Employer skills survey 2019
What is the Employer Skills Survey?
The Employer Skills Survey, which is based on over 80,000 telephone interviews with employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is one of the largest employer surveys in the world.
The survey is vital to the work of DFE and their partners both within national and local government. The survey gathers information on the skills challenges that employers face within their existing workforces and in terms of bringing in new skilled labour, the levels and nature of training investment and the relationship between skills challenges, training activity and business strategy.
This year it also includes content previously covered in the Employer Perspectives Survey, including topics such recruitment of education leavers, provision of work placements and apprenticeships.
Research for the survey was being carried out between May and November 2019 by IFF research, BMG research and Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department for Education, the Welsh Government, and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland.
The employer skills survey 2019, the fifth since 2011 to cover England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, asked questions about:
- recruitment difficulties and skills lacking from applicants
- skills lacking from existing employees
- underutilisation of employees’ skills
- anticipated needs for skill development in the next 12 months
- the nature and scale of training, including employers’ monetary investment
- the relationship between working practices, business strategy, skill development and skill demand
The survey also included questions from the previous employer perspectives survey last conducted in 2016.
Underlying datasets will be available shortly through the UK Data Service, by special licence access. To access the data, you will need to register and submit information on who will be accessing the data and how the data will be used.
Documents relating to the employer skills survey 2019 conducted by the Department for Education in England, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.
The employer skills survey 2019, the fifth since 2011 to cover England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, asked questions about:
- recruitment difficulties and skills lacking from applicants
- skills lacking from existing employees
- underutilisation of employees’ skills
- anticipated needs for skill development in the next 12 months
- the nature and scale of training, including employers’ monetary investment
- the relationship between working practices, business strategy, skill development and skill demand
The survey also included questions from the previous employer perspectives survey last conducted in 2016.
Underlying datasets will be available shortly through the UK Data Service, by special licence access. To access the data, you will need to register and submit information on who will be accessing the data and how the data will be used.
UK (excluding Scotland) documents
- Employer skills survey 2019: UK (excluding Scotland) findings
- Research and analysis
- Employer skills survey 2019: UK (excluding Scotland) technical documentation
- Research and analysis
National, regional and local information
- Employer skills survey 2019: England results
- Research and analysis
- Employer skills survey 2019: Wales results
- Research and analysis
- Employer skills survey 2019: Northern Ireland results
- Research and analysis
Responses