Students from King’s Business School took part in a two-week project with Edge, exploring government policies to encourage employers to invest in skills training. Here are their thoughts on the project...
In the current rapidly changing economic landscape, the skills that employers need are changing. In the UK employers' skills needs are not being met by employees, creating a skills gap which is growing. Addressing the widening skills gap is crucial for the UK because upskilling has contributed to increased productivity which further leads to economic growth and increased wages. The importance of upskilling has also been identified by the government’s upcoming new body, Skills England. Hopefully, it will understand that the UK’s skills training system isn’t working effectively.
Across the UK, there has been a pattern of declining investment into skills training by employers. This decline is mainly due to cost cutting measures during phases of slow growth and recession and prioritising short-term targets instead of long-term development. Another factor is ineffective use of the Apprenticeship Levy caused by perceived programme rigidity, and a lack of understanding and awareness of the UK’s training system and its provisions. The lack of awareness of the training system is even more prominent among SMEs. In their case, it’s worth noting that there is a willingness to invest in skills training but SMEs are often overlooked within the current system. Closing this gap could capture potential employer investment.
The UK’s skills training system has seen many programmes and initiatives implemented to help the labour market meet ever changing economic demands. For example, the 2006 Train to Gain initiative’s aim was to deliver skills training advice through training agents for employers, based on their skills needs. Employers who used Train to Gain credited it with increasing their productivity which further reaffirms the link between upskilling and productivity. Despite this, the initiative failed to capture high employer engagement because employers perceived procedures as complicated and time-consuming. The initiative was eventually dropped in 2010.
Our report found that the main drawback of the UK’s skills training system is that it’s not integrated and engaged with employers, especially SMEs, so it doesn't encourage skills training investment. Currently, employers tend to see the training system as complicated and difficult to navigate which deters them from making use of the available services.
To further integrate the current training system, we recommend transforming the National Careers Service platform into more of a one stop shop where all the available services are gathered together. This would improve the user experience, especially for employers, and simplify the multilayered procedures within the system.
Our team’s experience as student consultants on this two week project for Edge Foundation was both insightful and fulfilling. Investigating the UK’s widening skills gap is relevant for us because we are entering the labour market in the near future, with some of us interested in working for SMEs. Working with Edge’s policy team helped us to deliver a more targeted report because they were extremely helpful, offering constructive feedback, research support, and open communication throughout the two weeks.
Written by
Adele Chapman, Fatima Abiola-Ajimobi, Junrong Pan
María Rocha Troncoso, Mayur Patil, Thida Phan Sen
