BOSTON — New entrants to the US workforce are ‘ill-prepared’ and sorely lacking in basic academic skills and more advanced applied skills, according to a report to be released on Monday. The survey of 431 business leaders comes as many political and industry leaders are concerned about the US losing its competitive edge to fast-growing economies such as India and China. Conducted by business research organisations including The Conference Board and the Society for Human Resource Management, the survey found nearly three quarters of incoming high school graduates were viewed as deficient in basic English writing skills, including grammar and spelling. Almost 30 per cent said they doubted their college graduate employees could write a simple business letter. Linda Barrington, research director at The Conference Board and one of the report’s authors, called the findings a ‘warning bell’. ‘As the economy and the world of business change, the perceptions of employers are that we don’t have enough excellence out there – including in our college educated workers – to compete,’ she said. ‘If we’re not demonstrating excellence in communicating in English – our native language – how will we compete internationally?’ Competence in mathematics was […]