The CBI has warned that there will be no jobs for unskilled workers in Britain within 10 years.

Speaking on the opening day of the business organisation's annual conference in Birmingham, director general Digby Jones said the workforce requires a "huge culture change" to equip itself for the future.

The warning came as a new survey of 150 company chairman and chief executives showed that firms are under increasing pressure to "off-shore" their operations to countries with lower costs.

"We think there will not be any work for unskilled people in a few years' time," Jones said.

"Ensuring that people have the skills remains a problem in this country."

"We need something urgently done at secondary level, and in the workforce, to make sure that people are not put on the scrapheap," he added.

But the business chief insisted that the UK economy can create more jobs at home than it loses to foreign competitors if it puts the right emphasis on skills.

Britain has "nothing to fear" from globalisation, he argued.

Off-shoring

That view was backed by a new report  which found that the UK is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the off-shoring boom.

Skilled workers have benefited from the import of jobs in areas such as computer services, advertising and recruitment, according to the report by the Advanced Institute of Management Research.

In Birmingham for the event, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the CBI was correct to highligh skills shortages but said business must take its share of responsibility.

"Digby Jones is right to stress the importance of employee skills. Some British companies have an excellent record of investing in their staff but there is a long tale of poor performers," he said.

"Too many companies prefer low paid, low skill, long hours, 'low road' jobs that cannot compete in today's global economy. The UK will never cut pay, working conditions or employment rights enough to beat India or China.

"We need to move up to a 'high-road' economy in which innovative businesses with well trained and highly skilled staff, provide quality products and services."