Generic Skills Survey 2003 Organisation Date

Presentation overview Project Outputs Employer Evidence –Skills needed –Attitudes to skills –Training behaviour Household Evidence –Attitudes & barriers to employment –Attitudes to skills –Attitudes & barriers to learning & advice/guidance Skills Gaps & Shortages Some thoughts for discussion

Outputs: Employer and Household All Wales - Area tables Economic regions –Mid Wales –North Wales –South East –West Wales UA tables Objective 1 & 3 regions SPSS data format and electronic versions of tables

The changing economic background Welsh economy has grown since the first Future Skills Wales in 1998 –But growth has been slow –Indeed, 2001 was particularly difficult –Job declines in traditional industries –Service sector job rises –So economy is restructuring –Although still weighted towards more basic occupations Will affect levels and patterns of employers’ skill needs, gaps, shortages

Employers & their need for skilled people 70-80% of employers say that their workforces currently need ‘high’ or ‘advanced’ levels of skills in the following areas: –Understanding customer needs –Communication –Ability to follow instructions –Showing initiative –Team-working –Flexibility This is from a scale of ‘not required’, ‘basic’, ‘intermediate’, ‘high’ and ‘advanced’

And employers say skill needs will rise Employers say that their skill needs will rise The skills that will most be needed in 3 years’ time will generally be those most needed now But, the largest increases will be in –IT –Managerial –Organising own learning & development –Welsh language –Leadership

Employer skills needs: current & future

Employer skills needs: relative growth

Employers’ attitudes to investing in skills Generally, employers have positive attitudes towards skills –95 per cent agree that skills are crucial to business success Although many believe that current levels of skills are sufficient to meet their business needs –And around 1 in 10 don’t even believe that investing in skills brings business benefits

Benefits to employers of skills investment

Employers’ training behaviour Relatively speaking, Wales does well –More report barriers (time, cost) than in 1998 –But 53% train at least some of their employees –Better than 1998 & than England (2001) But many 47% still do not invest in off-the-job training And considerable variation in training investment remains –Bigger firms –Public sector –Skilled, professional, managerial occupations –Agriculture X –Less skilled occupations X

Off-the-job training by occupation

When recruiting employers focus on: –Skills (83% important or fairly important) –Application process (76%) –Reputation of previous employer (71%) –Work experience (69%) Qualifications rank least important (57% say important or fairly important) …… but employers still report lack of qualifications as a reason for hard-to-fill vacancies Employers’ recruitment practices

Abilities of school, college and graduate recruits 49% of establishments recruiting school/college leavers report gaps between leavers’ skills and those needed by business Communication Showing initiative Numeracy Literacy Understanding and customer needs 33% of establishments recruiting graduates report skill gaps Communication Showing initiative Work experience Understanding customer needs

The Welsh people: positive about work Wales: lower employment and higher inactivity than England But 1/3 of Welsh residents who are out-of-work, would like paid employment –A potential source of labour for the Welsh economy They are especially keen to take up opportunities in –Health and social work –Distribution, hotels and restaurants –Community, social and personal services Less interested in Public admin and Financial services

Disability and ill-health hinder many people’s engagement with the labour market –17% of residents are hindered in the type of work they undertake –And half of residents in workless households say that they are affected by ill-health and disability Lack of qualifications are another problem –21% of residents have no qualifications –37% of workless have none –14% of year olds have no qualifications (some because they haven’t got their results yet) Some clear barriers to employment

Those in work say that their skills are much higher than employers need Those out of work believe that their skills are slightly higher than those needed by employers –Perhaps those without work don’t fully realise how demanding employers are? –Possible need to provide better information /understanding to those out of work? Especially since it is skills, not qualifications or experience that decide who actually gets a job A more subtle barrier?

People have positive attitudes to skills Most people appreciate the need for greater skills Most people want to learn, to obtain formal qualifications and improve work-related skills If in work they believe that –Their job requires greater skills than previously –They are more skilled than 3 years ago –And they get to use full range of skills at work And people’s training experiences are mostly favourable: –Increased confidence (56%) –Increased ability (49%), New skills (44%)

But beneath the generalisations… The desire to train is greatest amongst the higher qualified, lowest amongst the unqualified Managers and professionals have more positive attitudes to skills development than workers in elementary jobs Older residents & those in low level occupations have particularly low participation in training/learning –2/3 older residents (55-64) were not involved in training in the last 12 months –3/4 of those without qualifications were not involved in learning in the last 12 months

Barriers to learning Actual training levels have not changed since 1998 –46% of residents have not been involved in any form Main barriers are –Lack of time –Family/childcare commitments Traditional learning methods are generally preferred, but minority of those with no/low qualifications –Prefer television and practical learning –Are less comfortable with classrooms /lectures and computers/internet May imply a need for delivery to be more customised?

Residents’ access to advice and guidance People depend on informal as well as formal sources –18% say job centres/JobCentre Plus the most used source –14% say families and colleagues –12% prefer to use the internet Informal sources may be particularly weak for those living in communities with high unemployment, ill health, and poverty Need for special support to these communities?

So: can employers get the skills they need? 22% of Welsh employers report having vacancies –England 15%, Scotland 18%, NI 16% But equivalent to just 2% of Welsh employment –Below the density for other nations And fewer Welsh establishments report hard-to-fill vacancies than in 1998 –14% compared with 30% Half of these (7%) reflect skill shortages –4% in England, Scotland and NI But again, smaller % of employment than in England (0.5% and 0.8% respectively)

Impact of/responses to hard-to-fill vacancies Consequences of hard-to-fill vacancies are –Loss of business to competitors (16%) –Inability to grow business (14%) –Loss of service quality (13%) –Loss of efficiency (13%) –Increased pressure on staff (13%) Yet just 6 per cent of employers respond by providing training or personal development opportunities –Most expand recruitment channels (40%) –Or expand geography of recruitment (11%)

Skills gaps Around 1 in 5 of employers have problems with the skills of their workforces –19% report skills gaps –That’s below England (23%) but higher than Scotland (16%) and NI (13%) Main problem areas are: –IT (reported by 24% of employers with gaps) –Communication skills (21%) –Showing initiative (12%) –Problem solving (11%) –Ability to learn (10%)

Business impacts of skills gaps Skills gaps harm competitiveness –Loss of quality of service (16%) –Loss of business to competition (16%) –Loss of efficiency (15%) But many employers affected by gaps do respond: –56% provide training –18% increase availability of apprentice /trainee programmes

Some thoughts for discussion Skills needs rising, and for some skills fast growth…running to stand still? Employers have positive attitude but how best to encourage all firms to invest in trainign for less well skilled in lower occupations? Encouraging employability and training for those with health and disability problems? Stimulating desire for learning amongst the less well qualified and those employed in low level occupations? Effectively targeting advice and guidance within deprived communities – positively influencing informal channels? Encouraging adults, employed as well as young and entrants to labour market to take up advice and guidance opportunities in Wales Encourage better assessment and self-assessment of generic skills

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