With Brexit uncertainty continuing to impact the UK’s economy, new research from the City & Guilds Group and Emsi, cited by FE News, shows that nine in 10 employers are already finding it hard to recruit highly-skilled candidates.
Most sectors are predicted to grow between now and 2024, resulting in increased demand for skilled workers. Yet, the People Power study, which compiles the responses of more than 1,000 C-Suite employers, found two-thirds of them believe the skills gaps in their business will worsen or remain the same in the next 3-5 years.
When asked to name internal factors they think will hamper productivity within their business in the future, struggling to recruit skilled workers came top, cited by 47%.
Brexit, meanwhile, topped the list of key worries, with nearly half (46%) of employers believing it will impede on business growth. This figure is unsurprising, given the fact that 85% of companies polled employ EU workers.
A total 45% of employers want to see more support from both the government and education system to get the skills they need. The same percentage, however, acknowledged that they need to accept more responsibility for skills development, highlighting how important it is for all stakeholders to work together to tackle the UK’s current skills shortage.
The article goes on to suggest that apprenticeships could form a vital part of the solution to the skills shortage problem. Despite the negativity surrounding the Apprenticeship Levy, introduced back in 2017, there continues to be huge demand for workers at this level in UK companies.
In the study, 38% of businesses said the role they will be recruiting for most over the next 3-5 years will be apprentices. The same percentage said apprenticeship programmes are the main method they aim to use to encourage entrants into the workplace.
Andy Durman, VP for UK operations at Emsi, acknowledged that the study may paint a bleak picture, but said it should “provide an impetus for a whole variety of stakeholders to start collaborating on a much bigger scale to ensure that people are being trained in the skills that are needed.”
He concluded: “The college, the university, the local economic developer and of course employers themselves – all need to come together to make sure that things like T Levels, Apprenticeships and Degree Apprenticeships are actually working to create the skills system that we all want to see.”
What do you think? Do you think apprenticeships will go some way to addressing the growing skills shortage here in the UK?