The new boss of the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has warned that a shortage of IT skills could seriously dent the future prosperity of the UK.

Simon Griffiths, who was appointed chairman of the PCG on Saturday, warned that lack of training and short termism could result in the UK's tech sector facing a crisis.

Add to that the growing trend for UK companies using foreign workers who, he says "are ruthlessly exploited while home grown talent languishes on the sidelines" and things don't look too good.

Griffiths reckons that the exclusion of techies from senior managerial roles has led to gross under-investment in training in hard technical skills, which he maintains, are vital to the continuing success of the UK's knowledge-based sector.

"Lack of training and the gradual erosion of freelancer status by punitive tax measures like IR35 and S660 are in danger of destroying a uniquely skilled, flexible work force that will have dire consequences for the UK," he warned.

"While the PCG has quite rightly been at the forefront of campaigns against the tax system which penalises freelancers, the real issue is not about fair taxation but about the changing nature of employment particularly in the IT sector where skills advance at an alarming rate," he said. ®