Mature workers have the key qualities graduates today lack.

Entrepreneur think tank the Tenon Forum claims UK entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on older workers to plug skills shortages in their businesses.

Nearly half of owner-managers are concerned about skills shortages and many claim younger recruits are often just not up to the job. A third of SMEs report a lack of work readiness among graduates and 31 percent cite poor literacy and numeracy amongst school leavers as a key issue facing their business.

Forum member Khalid Aziz said: "We are becoming increasingly frustrated with a lack of work-readiness amongst graduates, many of whom do not possess basic skills, such as mental arithmetic.

"Those under the age of 40 have never experienced high unemployment and this is contributing to a tendency for younger employees to take work for granted or, worse, treat it as an extension of their social lives. This failure to take work seriously is not an issue amongst more mature employees."

Many entrepreneurs are now looking to the potential of older workers to plug the gap, with two thirds of SME leaders agreeing that the employment of workers aged 50 plus is a good solution to skills shortages. And more than a fifth (22 per cent) of entrepreneurial businesses actually favour the hiring of older workers over college leavers as a solution to staffing problems.

The research reveals that three in 10 SMEs have a strong representation of employees aged over 50, with many businesses utilising the experience of older workers as coaches and mentors for younger employees (20 per cent) or in the capacity of consultants following retirement (12 per cent).