Bosses in the United Kingdom and Ireland will increase employee training to help meet changing skills needs, according to recent research. One in three employers (32%) are expecting major changes in their skills needs over the next two years, with a further 59% expecting minor changes, according to the Recruitment Confidence Index, a quarterly survey created four years ago by Cranfield University School of Management in Cranfield, England. Almost 90% of employers surveyed said they would prefer to develop skills in-house, and 77% said they would increase the amount of training they offer staff. However, two-thirds said they would need to recruit new skills. "The research implies that employers see themselves investing more in individual employee's development. In a way this is a reaction not just to changing skill needs but also to labor shortages," commented Cranfield Professor Shaun Tyson. In other findings, 90% of employers surveyed said they believe the training they provide has a direct impact on bottom-line business results. Some 1,352 public- and private-sector employers from across the UK and Ireland responded to this survey.