Employer Demand

1
Employer Demand
National Employers Skills Survey (NESS)
2
UNDER DEVELOPED DEMAND FROM EMPLOYERS

• The story so far
• High levels of skills, lower levels of
  productivity,
• slightly greater demand for less productive
• industries.

3
NATIONAL EMPLOYERS SKILLS SURVEY (NESS)

• Any other evidence? The 2005 NESS
• The NESS is a large employer survey with
  objective of establishing where skills shortages
  and deficiencies lie in the economy, and what
  employers are doing to increase the supply of
  skills by supporting the training and development
  of their managers and staff

4
NATIONAL EMPLOYERS SKILLS SURVEY (NESS)

• Survey themes
• Demand for skills vacancies
• Availability of skills recruitment difficulty,
  skill shortages, and skill gaps
• Recruitment of young people
• Workforce development by employers

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VACANCIES

• 17 of South West employers reporting a vacancy
• Represents 2.9 of employment

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VACANCIES

• Concentration of vacancies

SECTORS Retail, hospitality, financial services, construction, care
SIZE OF ESTABLISHMENT Small establishments (lt25 jobs) have 53 of vacancies but only a third of employment
LOCATION No great variation but marginally higher in West of England
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VACANCIES

• High intensity vacancies
• Skilled trades and operators in engineering,
  general manufacturing, construction, food
  processing, garages
• Sales staff in retail sector
• Low grade staff in hospitality
• Care workers
• Technical staff in financial services and IT
  sector
• Teachers
• Nurses and technical staff in health sector

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VACANCIES

• Hard-to-fill (HTF) Skills shortage vacancies
• HTF vacancies 31 of employment in 2005, below
  national average. Compares to 47 in 2003, above
  national average.
• Skills shortage vacancies 17.7 of all vacancies,
  lower than national average of 25.
• Gap between the South West and the national
  average has increased between 2003 and 2005.

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VACANCIES

• Vacancies by occupation shows demand exists for
  occupations with lower skills levels

10
INTERNAL SKILLS GAPS

• 108,000 people in SW identified as not fully
  proficient
• A third of total in retail and hospitality
• Construction, engineering and care next highest
  sectors
• Fairly evenly distributed across different sizes
  of establishment

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INTERNAL SKILLS GAPS
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YOUNG PEOPLE

• Prepared for work?
• Percent of recruiting employers saying poor or
  very poorly prepared for work.
• 16 year olds 24
• 17-18 year olds 19
• New graduates 10

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YOUNG PEOPLE

• Why?

16 year olds 17-18 year olds New graduates
Lack motivation/ work ethic Lack of life/work experience Poor education/ general knowledge Lack motivation/ work ethic Lack of job-specific skills Lack of life/work experience Lack motivation/ work ethic Lack of business/ practical experience Lack of job-specific skills
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TRAINING BY EMPLOYERS
Percentage of employers supplying training
2003 2005
South West 62 65
England 59 65
Percent of employees trained is the same for SW
and England 35 off-the-job, 50 on-the-job
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USING FE COLLEGES

• Fewer employers which supply training used FE
  Colleges in 2005 than in 2003 (30 down from 33)
• More users satisfied with provision
• But.
• More significant dissatisfaction with
  construction and vehicle maintenance courses
• Twice as many employers use private providers
• Levels of satisfaction with private providers
  higher than for FE

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SMEs

• Small employers (with fewer than 25 staff)
• Have disproportionate numbers of vacancies,
  hard-to-fill vacancies, and skill shortage
  vacancies
• More frequently see young recruits as
  ill-prepared for work
• More likely to say that skills problems cause
  loss of business
• Less likely to train staff
• Supports the need for policy focus on small hard
  to reach businesses