Skills for Business 2004: survey of employers

The Skills for Business network aims to enhance productivity and profitability in the UK. It was established in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Department of Trade and Industry and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a remit to ‘replace the relative weakness of the UK’s sectoral arrangements with strong employer leadership capable of delivering sustained improvements in public and private sector productivity and competitiveness through the better use and development of people’s skills’. It identifies and addresses skills gaps and shortages on a sector by sector basis. The network comprises 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and is underpinned by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), which is responsible for funding, supporting and monitoring the SSCs. This report presents findings from the 2004 general survey of UK employers, consisting of 13,700 interviews in total. Data from the survey aims to document the performance of the network over the past year and to measure changes in the environment within which the SSCs and the SSDA operate. Data is thus presented on the extent of awareness of, and contact with, the network to date and on the extent of planning, skills challenges and workforce development activity among UK businesses. This information will be used to underpin strategic decisions about how best to further engage employers with the ‘skills agenda’. The survey found that awareness of the network and its component elements (the SSDA and the SSCs) had increased and that almost half of employers (47%) were aware of at least one element of the network. However, employers who were aware of each individual element are still in the minority. Overall, the findings suggest that the network has much work to do. Many businesses face a widening gap between their skill needs and labour supply. However, employers are not ‘filling the gap’ by training their staff and for one third of establishments, skills are not a major ‘business focus’. Although the network has started to increase its profile and is mostly successful with those businesses with which it has engaged, it needs to expand its level of engagement, both in depth and breadth, in order to address the skills challenges faced by businesses.

Related reports are indexed at TD/TNC 83.277 and TD/TNC 83.279.

The Skills for Business network aims to enhance productivity and profitability in the UK. It was established in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Department of Trade and Industry and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a remit to ‘replace the relative weakness of the UK’s sectoral arrangements with strong employer leadership capable of delivering sustained improvements in public and private sector productivity and competitiveness through the better use and development of people’s skills’. It identifies and addresses skills ...  [+] Show more