UK skills shortages

By: Lindsay Plumpton

Communications Leader

Thursday 30 January 2014

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It’s been reported that shortages of skills in the UK might prevent businesses from being able to take advantage of the economic recovery.

Having surveyed 91,000 employers, The UK Commission for Employment and Skills found that more than one in 5 vacancies were due to a poor skills base in potential employees. The problem of inadequate skills, qualifications or experience is worse in some sectors than others, with construction, plumbing and Health and Social Care being some of the areas affected.

One of the key findings of the study is that employers struggled to find employees with the core, transferable skills of literacy and numeracy. Interestingly, college leavers were reported by employers to be more "work ready" than school leavers of the same age.

NCFE has recently launched over 130 bite-sized English and maths qualifications which enable progression and help to make literacy and numeracy accessible to learners who aren’t engaged by these vital subjects.

What’s the answer? How can we make training more responsive to the needs of the employer? How can we plug this skills gap successfully?

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Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

Communications Leader
96 posts
David Grailey

Chief Executive
79 posts
Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Policy Leader
75 posts
Esme Winch

Managing Director
35 posts
Michael Lemin

Policy and Research Manager
25 posts

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Training Providers

Employers

Learners

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