Nearly two-thirds of Tennessee employers predict it will be harder to find the qualified workers they need over the next decade, according to a new business survey.

Dr. Matt Murray, a University of Tennessee economist who prepared the survey, said today the results underscore a growing problem for Tennessee businesses.

“Employers today in Tennessee are already having difficulty getting enough skilled workers and they expect those problems to be even more acute in the future,” he said.

Among 618 business leaders surveyed by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, less than 20 percent rated Tennessee public schools above average. To get employees ready to work, employer respondents said they spent an average of $4,152 per year on worker training.

Dr. Murray said the jobs of tomorrow will require higher worker skills than in the past, but many of the most senior workers in the baby boom generation will retire in n the next decade.

For complete coverage see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.