The latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation survey reveals that 90% of companies have 'no' or 'only a little' spare capacity to increase business.
Kevin Green, Chief Exec of REC commented: "Businesses are increasingly thinking about expanding their numbers and many are telling us that they can't take on more work without more staff.
":At the same time, the UK is suffering from skills shortages across the economy and it's getting harder for hirers to attract and retain the talent they need."
From the recruitment perspective, Clive Jefferys of recruiter JMA Network observed: "All companies must look at every possible recruitment option as a matter of urgency. Internal referral schemes, direct advertising, recruitment agencies and headhunting all form part of the solution, but none can solve the problem alone."
Traditionally many companies relied on using temporary staff. However, due to wholesale change in taxation and legislation, the scope for using temps, part-timers and contractors is actually reducing.
"There are tremendous opportunities in this situation," added Jefferys. "We all need to invest in technology and training to increase productivity and look at new sources of labour too. There are over a million under-utilised 50-65 year olds in the UK. It seems utterly mad not to use such a skilled and available resource."