Almost half of human resource officials polled by the professional organization said this year's college graduates lack basic English skills in grammar and spelling. Eighteen percent said the grads come up short in math and computation. Thirteen percent faulted the grads' spoken English, and 10 percent cited a lack of reading comprehension.

The biggest complaint by hirers was that the graduates lack "professionalism" or "work ethic," a deficiency listed by half of those surveyed. Nearly half detected a lack of "business acumen."

The generalized complaints - obtained from members of the human resource association - were reported along with more detailed revelations about why organizations were or weren't hiring. Among hirers, 20 percent said the graduates were "underqualified" for their job openings.

Job categories that hirers described as "very difficult" to fill were engineers, computer technicians and programmers, scientists, and skilled-trades workers such as carpenters, machinists, mechanics, welders and plumbers.