UK firms increase salaries but can’t find workers

Job woes: People are seen dining in a restaurant at Covent Garden in London in this file photo. The labour shortage is most pronounced in the catering and hospitality sectors in the UK. ―Bloomberg

LONDON: Eight in 10 British companies struggled to find workers last month despite many of them increasing wages, according to a survey that shows labour shortages are intensifying.

The proportion was up sharply from three months earlier, with the squeeze most pronounced in the catering and hospitality sectors where 92% of firms that attempted to recruit reported difficulties, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said.