‘Put employers in the driving seat on skills’ says EEF

MANUFACTURERS are investing in skills but are still struggling to find the right employees, according to a survey carried out by the EEF and JAM Recruitment.

EEF, which represents manufacturers, and JAM, a Sale firm which specialises in engineering and manufacturing recruitment, polled around 200 firms.

The survey found that companies are investment in training, apprenticeships and better links with schools and colleges to try and improve skills shortages.

But only a minority believe the government’s efforts to create a simpler skills system have improved the situation.
 
EEF’s head of employment and skills policy, Tim Thomas, said: “Manufacturers are taking the initiative to ensure that skills gaps don’t hold them back from their ambitions to develop new products and services and expand into new markets. But despite the government’s best efforts, investing in apprenticeships and finding the right qualifications, training courses and provider is still far from straightforward.  

“The time is ripe to go further and put employers in the driving seat by giving them the power to set the standards for their industry, the scope to decide how to train their apprenticeships and by routing public funding for training through the firms that invest in it. In doing so the government should resist the vested interests of training providers to maintain the status quo and the calls to add more bureaucracy to the system by giving LEPs control of skills budgets.”   

JAM’s chief executive John Morris said: “Over the last few years, we have seen the definition of what is considered to be a ‘hard-to-fill’ position widen at an alarming rate. To remain internationally competitive, UK manufacturing needs a skilled, flexible labour force.

“That will only happen if the government ensures the training market is coherent, accessible and delivering what employers need. In the long term it’s vital that STEM (science, technology, English and maths) subjects are prioritised in the education system and that we get the message across to a new generation that there are fantastic career opportunities manufacturing. “

Over half of respondents said their training spend had increased in the past two years and six in ten said it would increase in the next two. Seven in ten companies offer work experience to young people with others offering factory visits, internships and placements.