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The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. This sector covers the property, housing, cleaning and facilities management sub-sectors. NESS data was limited to two of these sub-sectors (real estate and industrial cleaning), and in total 3,268 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Communication and customer handling skills are identified as being most important in administrative occupations, with only a minority indicating a need for IT skills, while in the case of elementary staff, employers highlighted very few skill requirements. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: four per cent of establishments in the asset skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 17 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps are spread fairly evenly across the sector, but the largest proportion of all vacancies are found amongst the sales and customer service staff and elementary staff; elementary staff account for 39 per cent of all jobs with a skills gap; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff being recently recruited or having a lack of experience; and the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the asset skills sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Summitskills Sector Skills Council. This sector covers the building services engineering trade which, for the purposes of this report, have been grouped into the sub-sectors of manufacturing and construction and retail. NESS data shows that over 46,000 of these establishments exist across England, and in total 1,753 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Communication and customer handling skills are identified as being most important in administrative occupations, while in the case of skilled metal or electrical trades staff, employers highlighted the importance of problem solving and technical and practical skills. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: nine per cent of establishments in the asset skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 21 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps are most common amongst skilled trades occupations, with skill gaps especially concentrated upon machine operation staff; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff having a lack of experience; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, a low number of applicants with the required skills, and a lack of the qualifications demanded by the company; and the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, problem solving skills and teamworking skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the Summitskills sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector. This sector has a broad coverage, but for the purposes of this report only three broad clusters are focused upon: environmental industries, animal health and welfare, and land management and production. The overwhelming majority of establishments in this field are micro-businesses, with 94% employing fewer than five people. Due to survey restrictions, self-employed sole-proprietors were not included in the data, though many exist in the Lantra field, and 445 interviews were conducted in total. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. The two main occupations in this sector are identified as managers or proprieters in agriculture, and skilled agricultural tradespeople. For the former, communication, customer handling, numeracy, literacy and teamworking skills were all identified as important, while in the case of skilled trades, technical and practical skills are needed at an advanced level. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: 56 per cent of establishments in the lifelong learning sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 27 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; vacancies and skill gaps are most common amongst skilled trades and elementary occupations, reflecting the importance of technical skills to this sector; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff having a lack of experience; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills; and the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, communication skills, management skills and problem solving skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the Lantra sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Cogent Sector Skills Council. The Cogent sector is comprised of the chemical, nuclear, oil and gas, petroleum and polymer industries, and 672 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time, with the two main occupation groups examined being corporate managers and process, plant and machine operatives. Communication skills, management skills and problem solving skills are identified as being most important amongst corporate managers, while teamworking, communication and technical skills are more likely to be required at high levels by process, plant and machine operatives. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: 11 per cent of establishments in the cogent skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 32 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; vacancies and skill gaps in the Cogent skills sector are predominently for machine operatives, sales and customer service staff, while skill shortage vacancies are more likely to be for skilled trade occupations; the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, problem solving skills and communication skills; and the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the cogent sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce, and encourages training and upskilling practices. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Skillsmart Sector Skills Council, which covers the retail trade. NESS data shows that over 250,000 of these establishments exist across England, and in total 9,991 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Communication skills, customer handling skills and teamworking skills are identified as being most important for all staff regardless of position, while problem solving was also a requirement for managers, and literacy and numeracy high in relevance for sales and customer service occupations. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: seven per cent of establishments in the asset skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 26 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps are most common amongst sales and customer service staff; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff having a lack of experience; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills; and the most common skills lacking in applicants are customer handling, communication and teamworking skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the Skillsmart sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for the Automotive Skills Sector Skills Council. This sector comprises 70,000 businesses involved in the sales, maintenance and repair of vehicles on the UK's roads. In total, 2,809 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Technical and practical skills are identified as being most important amongst skilled trade occupations, while communication, customer handling and teamworking skills are more likely to be required at high levels in sales and customer service positions. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: nine per cent of establishments in the automotive skills sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 23 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; the highest densities of vacancies lie within smaller firms; vacancies and skill gaps in the Automotive Skills sector are predominently for Skilled trades; and the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the automotive sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less

The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) is the largest of its kind ever commissioned, and aims to investigate the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skills gaps, and at the same time measure employers' training activities. The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) commissioned reports from a number of Sector Skills Councils, and this report summarises the NESS 2003 for Lifelong Learning UK, the Lifelong Learning Sector Skills Council. This sector is concerned with the delivery and support of training and education to those undertaking qualifications post-16 years of age. This includes etablishments which provide technical and vocational secondary education, higher education, library and archive activities, and adult and other education. NESS data shows that over 28,000 of these establishments exist across England, and in total 1,013 interviews were conducted with establishments in this sector. Employers were asked about specific skills they require now and skills they expected to be required in three years time. Across all occupations in this sector the top three skills required at higher levels were identified as communication skills, customer handling skills and teamworking skills. The report also considers the extent of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and finds that: nine per cent of establishments in the lifelong learning sector face hard-to-fill vacancies; 29 per cent of establishments suffer from internal skill gaps, with staff being regarded as less than fully proficient; vacancies and skill gaps are most common amongst professional, associate professional and administrative staff; the main causes of skill gaps are primarily perceived to be due to staff having a lack of experience; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a lack of interest in this type of work, and a low number of applicants with the required skills; and the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and professional skills, customer handling, and communication skills. Barriers to developing and maintaining a proficient team of staff in the lifelong learning sector are identified as including: lack of time for training for those with skill gaps; a lack of cover for training; and a lack of funds for training. The report also considers issues associated with employer engagement in developing their workforce. Show less