One in five companies provide lessons in the three Rs because thousands of school leavers are lacking in basic skills

Employers are having to provide remedial lessons in reading, writing and maths because thousands of school leavers lack basic skills, according to a report.

One in five companies surveyed had held training in the three Rs in the past year for staff recruited from school or college.

Employers complained they had been left to 'pick up the pieces' after young people left school inadequately prepared for the workplace.

The survey by the Confederation of British Industry of almost 700 employers found half were 'troubled' by their employees' reading and writing - while two thirds thought staff lacked computer skills.

According to the research low levels of literacy and numeracy affected the ability of employees to gather information from standard texts, compose coherent memos, mentally calculate price discounts or even work out customers' change.

Companies now spend £39 million a year retraining staff who are poorly equipped for the jobs market.

And the lack of traditional qualifications was still a problem, with one in three employers complaining that they could not find candidates with A-levels in 'proper' subjects like business studies, maths and sciences.

Those with qualifications in psychology and sociology were named as the least desirable candidates for jobs, while graduates with science degrees were rated the most employable.

The report, which was also compiled by qualifications body EDI, follows complaints by leading businessmen, including bosses at retail giants Tesco and Marks and Spencer, that education standards are inadequate.

Results: Many school leavers are said to be lacking in basic skills expected by employers and so, they are being taught the three Rs

Sir Stuart Rose, the chairman of Marks & Spencer, claimed millions of school leavers were 'not fit for work' with many entering the jobs market without a basic grasp of the three Rs.

The retailing boss said: 'They cannot do reading. They cannot do arithmetic. And they cannot do writing.'

Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy has also branded education as 'woeful', complaining that employers were being 'left to pick up the pieces' of a failed education system.

Sir Terry said: 'As the largest private employer in the country, we depend on high standards in our schools.

'Sadly, despite all the money that has been spent, standards are still woefully low in too many schools.'

The report's authors said companies were 'understandably frustrated' that the millions spent on education were not being 'harnessed effectively.'

Richard Lambert, the CBI director general, said: 'Employers do not expect everyone to arrive at their door "job ready" but at the very least they do want young people who are literate and numerate.'

One employer said the UK was it risk of losing prominence in engineering if the quality of graduates did not improve.

Matthew Knowles, spokesman for the UK's aerospace, defence and security trade organisation ADS, said: 'High-tech manufacturing and services sectors such as those that we represent have a large number of skilled people approaching retirement age.

'We need more high-calibre young people studying science, technology, engineering and maths to avoid losing business overseas in what are highly-competitive global industries.

'The future economic prosperity of the country depends on us securing a continuous flow of well-qualified young people.'

The survey polled 694 companies employing a total of 2.4 million staff.

Most firms said they planned to maintain or increase spending on training and development despite the 'fragile' recovery from the recession.

But they said red tape surrounding apprenticeships needed to be cut and called on the government to introduce incentive payments for firms who offered training to youngsters.

David Willetts, the new Universities Minister said the findings were 'shocking.'

He pledged to do more to support employers who offered training to young people and to encourage traditional studies.

Mr Willetts said: 'The survey shows employers want stronger signals of the value of subjects.

'They are right and this is what we are doing.'