Companies in the Republic are finding it more difficult to recruit employees with the skills required to pursue e-commerce than their counterparts in the US, a new study shows.

The report by Andersen Consulting, "e-Ireland: Connecting the Dots", found that 52 per cent of Irish businesses reported availability of skills as a significant problem. The Republic was ranked top of 13 countries on problems associated with the availability of skills, and was well above the EU average of 33 per cent.