John Cridland, director general of the CBI, said businesses should deliver "better pay and more opportunities" for their employees. 

 

He told the BBC: "If we get productivity going, we are creating more wealth, and we can share it."

 

Recovery should be sustainable before wages increased, he said. 

 

Mr Cridland said: "It's nice for once to have a somewhat more upbeat message. The message is, if the economy is growing, we can have everybody swim upwards²."

 

But he said lacking productivity was a "bit of a worry" in the UK economy and that it was important that skill shortages did not undermine recovery. 

 

In his annual new year's message, Mr Cridland said despite economic growth, there were "still far too many people stuck in minimum wage jobs without routes to progression, and that's a serious challenge that businesses and the government must address."

 

 

Mr Cridland said businesses must support employees in "every part of the country" to progress in their careers and help young people get their first jobs.

 

He called for a vocational system, similar to Ucas, to help raise awareness³ about other routes to higher skills.

 

Mr Cridland said: "If 2013 was the year that business trust took a hammering on a range of issues from corporate⁴ taxation⁵ to energy prices, then 2014 must be the year that business leaders take action to rebuild that trust."

点击收听单词发音