CIPD report finds low take-up for Skills Pledge

The report showed that over half of organisations’ learning and development work has not yet been influenced by his skills agenda.

 

Furthermore the annual Learning and Development survey also found that only 13% of employers have signed the Employer Skills Pledge, despite a majority of organisations reporting they will require a broader range and higher level of skills in the next two years.

 

Looking forward half of employers now say they would consider signing up to the Employer Skills Pledge or the “Train to Gain” initiative.

 

Although some organisations may not have been influenced by the Leitch recommendations, new findings have shown respondents are actively involved in learning and development.

 

Yet even as skills shortages pose a problem, the so-called soft skills seem to be an even bigger problem. Sixty-six percent of respondent organisations feel that new employees lack both communication and management skills, which top employers’  lists of what is needed to meet business requirements in the next two years.

 

In addition to soft skills, literacy and numeracy is still of employers’ concern, however most feel it is the government’s responsibility to solve these particular shortcomings.

 

“There is a danger that the Government’s drive to equip everyone with basic skills may be coming at the expense of the urgent need to develop higher level skills on a more selective basis. This may be one reason behind the relatively low take up of initiatives following Lord Leitch’s report and the Select Committee should ask his views on how this can be addressed.

 

“There is no doubting the government’s commitment to making the UK a skills leader by 2020, but there is more work to be done to convince employers that the government has the right answers to the problem. However, the large proportion of employers considering signing up to government skills initiatives demonstrates that there is much to play for.”