UK Employer Skills Survey 2011 - first findings report

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has published First Findings from the first ever UK-wide employer skills survey. Over 87,500 employers from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland were interviewed as part of the project.

This ambitious project has brought together the four surveys on skills deficiencies and training that were previously carried out separately in each constituent nation and represents a significant achievement technically. Compared to the previous surveys run in the nations, this survey includes all establishments with the exception of sole traders, which is a wider population. The survey will enable us to:

• Compare sectors and occupations within the UK
• Analyse across the entire UK on a comparable basis
• Recreate the data on a basis that allows time series analysis in the constituent nations

The First Findings Report provides a first glance at the statistics emerging from the project, but a fuller Main Report will follow in spring 2012 once there has been time to scratch beneath the surface of the data. The First Findings presents only information at the UK level, and does not breakdown information to the level of constituent nations. This will occur in the fuller analysis to follow in 2012. All figures in the report are subject to adjustment as we review and refine our analysis.

Key issues emerging from the report include:

1. Total UK employer expenditure on training is estimated at £49bn over the 12 months before the 2011 UK Employer Skills Survey. This is the first time that such a detailed estimate of UK-wide training expenditure has been calculated. Please note that previously only the surveys in England and Northern Ireland had calculated a total training expenditure figure. For the reasons given above the figure is not comparable with the 2009 NESS¹  figure in England.
2. A quarter of all establishments had trained staff towards nationally recognised qualifications in the 12 months prior to the survey. This illustrates that a minority of employers are currently engaged with the established qualifications system and highlights the importance of engaging employers more actively in driving the development of qualifications, so that one single market for training and development is created. For more on this issue see our paper on Employer Ownership.
3. It is notable that amongst the sectors where more money is spent on training relative to the number of establishments that train in the sector, several have a high prevalence of occupational regulation. Transport and Storage, Public Administration, Education and Health and Social work are examples. This reflects the rising prevalence of occupational regulation, which is explored from the perspective of its impact on training in one of our recent evidence reports.
4. Whilst only pockets of the economy experience skills deficiencies, where they are felt they have an impact on the ability of establishments to function (62 per cent report some impact). Nearly half (48 per cent) of establishments with skill gaps report that it leads to increased workload for other staff, whilst 83 per cent of employers experiencing hard-to-fill vacancies found this to be a problem. Nearly a half of businesses with hard-to-fill vacancies found it difficult to meet customer service objectives; to develop products or services, or that it led to a loss of business orders.

¹NESS is the National Employer Skills Survey, which was the name of the employer skills survey previously run in England.

First Findings from the 2011 UK Employer Skills Survey by David Vivian, Mark Winterbotham, Jan Shury and Ben Davies (IFF Research) (PDF 26pp)
Published December 2011 ISBN 9-781-90659-797-9

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