No. 1/1999
|
|
No. 1/1999 |
|
In CEDEFOP Info 3/98 the problems of skill shortages were highlighted. Now two new reports from the National Skills Task Force and the TEC National Council have spurred the government to action. It is to provide UK£ 38 million (ca 55.9 million EUR) per year to help improve the supply of skills to the market. Mr David Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education and Employment considers the government's task is to widen the available pool of labour and to raise competitiveness rather than reduce the economic activity levels or to see unemployment as a tool of anti-inflationary policy. He said, "We must use skills as a way out of the difficulty."
Funds will go to the new Regional Development Agencies (RDA) to develop along with further and higher education institutions a skill strategy for each region. The funding package includes a UK£5 million (ca. 7.4 million EUR) rapid response fund to retrain those involved in large scale redundancies. The reports go to great lengths to differentiate between the types of skill problems facing the UK economy. Skill shortages are defined as an absolute lack of potential applicants with the skills required. These are mainly confined to information technology specialisms. Skills gaps are shortfalls between the skills that existing employees possess and those that their employer requires for full business effectiveness. These may include applying the latest technological innovation or interpersonal skills such as those required at call centres, which can occur even where no skill shortages exist. They can arise from inappropriate recruitment and selection practices, poor financial and non financial rewards, such as pay and conditions, training and career prospects, and the image of the industry or job. According to the Task Force's report* and the findings of the TEC National Council** the way the UK educates and trains people is the underlying problem. The National Council believes that providing proper training and satisfying work could do much to encourage applicants. Further, employers should look to their existing workforces when skill needs change and provide more upskilling and retraining rather than turning to the external labour market. The Task Force recommends that information on skills issues needs to be improved and disseminated to employers, providers and individuals. Employers need to look at their selection procedures whilst providers need to make education and training relevant to employers and employees - a stronger focus on transferable skills, more flexible learner centred provision and modular focused courses and qualifications. A recent survey of shortages in communications and information technology skills highlighted unfilled vacancies across a wide range of jobs including operating networks, design, graphics and animation. The skills crisis has been heightened by the extra demands created by the millennium bug, the introduction of the euro and the latest national telephone numbering and code change. Another research finding has found that skills shortages could threaten job creation among small and medium sized firms unless more training is undertaken. The finding by Cambridge University's Centre for Business Research is the result of a survey of 2,500 SMEs. More than 40% of those polled did not train workers while half of those that did train spent less than 1% of their wage bill on it. The Hospitality Training Foundation1, the hospital industry's national training organisation has found that the industry will generate an additional 400,000 jobs by 2006, 20% of all new jobs in the economy. As well as filling these vacancies it will need to replace staff lost through natural wastage, some 340,000 in 1998. The skills crisis in the industry can only be averted by training development. Employers need to focus on:
Yet another industry failing to meet the needs of clients is the construction industry. In a report*** by the Government's task force set up in autumn 1997 a commitment to people including their training forms one of the five drivers for change needed to re-invigorate the construction industry. A labour market survey**** conducted by the Engineering and Marine Training Authority revealed half of 4,200 engineering sites surveyed could not recruit the staff they needed. Over half of sites with recruitment difficulties identified a lack of applicants with the required qualifications and skills as the main reason. A third of all the surveyed sites said they were experiencing a skills gap between the skills of current employees and those needed to meet business goals.
-----------------------
*"Towards a national skills agenda," National Skills Task Force, available from Prolog, PO Box 5050, Sudbury, Suffolk CO106YJ. Free, quote SKT1
Tel no: (44-845) 6022260 - Fax: (44945) 6033360 - E-mail: dfee@tec.co.uk
|
 |
 |