UK: Nissan chief fears skills shortage – FT

In
the face of continuing concerns over economic slowdown and the adverse impact
of the sterling/euro exchange rate on the UK manufacturing base, Nissan in the
UK is voicing a perhaps surprising concern over a shortage of key skills. According
to a report in the Financial Times, Nissan’s Sunderland plant, the UK’s biggest
and most productive car producer, is facing a skills scarcity.

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John Cushnaghan, the managing director of Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK, told
the FT that Nissan faces a UK-wide shortage of graduate engineers, which, together
with cuts to training spending at Sunderland arising from Nissan’s global retrenchment,
are causing concern. He believes that government action is needed to address
the shortage, especially at graduate level.

The concerns at Nissan come hot on the heels of similar warnings from BMW and
Honda.

Production at Nissan’s UK facility will be stepped up with the arrival of the
next generation Micra in 2003. Recruiting the appropriate staff to meet higher
production will be a key challenge for the company, at a time when the plant
is under pressure to cut costs and become profitable.

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