Young people, especially new graduates, believe they are fully qualified to leap up the corporate ladder immediately, while their bosses see them as arrogant know-alls who lack the social and communications skills to organise a coffee rota.

This disconnect is causing severe problems for companies trying to recruit the brightest and best of the upcoming generations, according to a new report by Demos, the think tank.

The authors of the report, Working Progress, believe the problem is caused partly by changes in the way corporations work. Communications skills are ranked top of those that employees need at a time when collaboration is replacing the old hierarchies. However creative people are, they must sway meetings of their peers rather than just the boss if they are to get their ideas adopted.

The authors of the report believe the disconnect is serious enough to warrant inclusion of social and communications skills in the school curriculum. One of them, Duncan ’Leary, says: “It became clear that young people do not realise they do not have the communications skills needed in the corporate world.

“The curriculum is full enough, so we want to integrate communications skills rather than put them in a separate subject like citizenship. We need to teach the ability to work with others.”

This could be done by introducing a “skills portfolio” that every school student would build up to demonstrate acquisition of the communications and social attainments not taught formally.

Relationships between employers and future workers should also be fostered by local businesses getting involved with schools and colleges. The report suggests termly “business evenings” along the lines of parents’ evenings, where business people could come and discuss the world of work with pupils and staff.

’Leary says: “We suggest practical projects involving schools and businesses such as the Prince’s Trust to build connections between education and the world around.”

The report, commissioned by Orange, the mobile phone operator, also calls for an “Investors in the Community” accreditation scheme for businesses that establish such links with schools.

It also recommends that corporations introduce the peer-to-peer networking technologies to which the new generation of workers expect to find in their new environment.

Kim Collins, a manager at Manpower, a recruitment consultant, says graduates delude themselves that they are better qualified for their new job than they are. They also expect to move from job to job much more than traditionally-minded employers expect.

He adds: “The general perception with graduates is that they take a job, gain skills quickly and then move on to further their careers, whereas employers assume they will take people on who will work their way up to managing director.”