Government statistics have revealed that 1.25 million workers - 4.5 per cent of employees - are not fully proficient in their roles. Compared to 1.15 million in 2017, this was the first increase in the number of employees unable to do their jobs properly since 2011.
The Department for Education survey has revealed that staff training has fallen to its lowest level in nine years - and experts warn that the cutting of Learning and Development budgets will only continue to harm their own cause.
The Employer Skills Survey 2019 revealed that workplace training was at its lowest level in a decade last year. In the year to December 2019, 61 per cent of employers had offered training to staff - down from 66 per cent in 2017. Over the same period, it was found that the proportion of staff undergoing training was 60 per cent - the lowest proportion reported since the Department for Education began producing these reports in 2011.
This survey of more than 81,000 employers across England, Northern Ireland and Wales was conducted before the coronavirus outbreak began impacting on the economy.
Lizzie Crowley - Senior Skills Adviser at the CIPD - said:
“Some of the early indicators that we have got from our Labour Market Outlook data is that training budgets have been impacted by Covid-19 and the subsequent downturn, and they are likely to be so over the coming year, or however long the recession lasts for.”
She added that a CIPD poll conducted on employers in June, showed that 22 per cent of firms planned to cut their training budgets this year - with only 16 per cent intending to increase it - a false economy with employers who took this route “shooting themselves in the foot”.
Steve Ludlow - Head of Executive Education at Henley Business School - stated that cutting training budgets when businesses should instead be preparing for a “new normal” was short-term thinking that “reflected weak management and leadership.”
He added:
“What needs to happen is for talent development to be seen as a vital tool for organisational transformation, not a discretionary cost.”
Jane Hickie - Managing Director of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers - warned that, to work, the skills guarantee would need “major investment” and reform of the adult education system.
She stated:
“AELP’s view is that the government’s pledges on retraining will be best met if it brings adult education budgets together and makes them accessible via individual skills accounts where the learner can exercise choice over the type of learning needed.”
Steve Ludlow added:
“The issue is not to do with meeting political commitments, it is about ensuring the long-term health of British industry. The need for continuous development of people is essential to respond to changing technology, customer demand and organisational processes. The rate of change has increased in recent years – Covid has simply accelerated matters.”
The Department for Education’s report also showed the number of training days taken by staff fell to 99 million in 2019, down from 105 million in 2017.
It stated:
“This equated to six training days per annum per person trained and 3.6 days per employee, the lowest levels over the 2011-2019 period.”
It added, “…….a potentially significant turning point, with decreases across several key measures including the proportion of employers training, the total training days provided, and employer investment in training.
Employers were being less proactive and fewer employers with skills gaps in their workforce had taken any steps to address the lack of proficiency compared with 2017.”
It also said:
“The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has clearly provided a significant shock to the economy and is likely to have lasting and significant effects on employers, and their recruitment and skills needs.”
