Eighty-five percent of employers report finding it difficult to very difficult when it comes to finding new hires with the proper skill sets to perform the open positions, according to a recent study by Fluke Corp.

Fluke Corporation maintains that as nearly one-quarter of workers are planning to retire in the next five years, coupled with the lack of skill sets among job candidates, it is potentially creating a work force disaster.

"We are going to be looking at a lot of people exiting the work force," says Randall Ambuehl, training director for Northwest Washington Electrical Industry Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. "At the same time, we're going to have to pull in large numbers of people to take their place. What we thought was going to be a training spike five years ago is going to be deeper . . . to meet those needs."