Employers find that training boosts the bottom line

The Daily Telegraph reports the launch of the Governments re-branded apprenticeship scheme by Chancellor Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke.

The scheme is intended to help ensure that the United Kingdom reduces its shortage of skilled workers, which is seen as a drag on the economy.

The report includes some interesting statistics:

• 41% of employers provide absolutely no training to their employees.
• 61% of employers do not have a formal training plan
• 20% of jobs can not be filled because a suitably skilled person can not be found.
• It is believed that 2.4million workers are not proficient in their jobs.
• The old industrial areas of the Midlands and the North East have the worst recruiting problems.
• 29% of companies have exported jobs
• Eastern European workers are being welcomed into the country
• Employers admit that their businesses are being held back by of inadequately trained staff.
• The Learning and Skills Council has invested £170m for training for 46,000 employees of small to medium sized businesses since 2002.
• There are currently 255,500 young people on the Government Apprentice scheme
• The target is to have 28% of all 16-21 year olds on the scheme by the end of the year.
• 90% of employers believe that training provides a direct impact on bottom line figures
• An average organisation only spends 5% of its payroll on training
• 63% of companies give staff externally accredited training
• 52% of employers think academic achievement is more important than vocational skills
• 48% of employers think vocational skills are more important than academic achievement.

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