Skilled Workers

(asked on 9th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Mind the Skills Gap, published on 2 December 2020.


Answered by
Baroness Berridge Portrait
Baroness Berridge
This question was answered on 23rd February 2021

'Mind the Skills Gap', published on 2 December 2020 by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), provides a helpful snapshot of some skills and training issues that employers face as a result of COVID-19.

The timing of this report is useful in aiding our understanding of business and employee behaviours and perspectives on skills and training, especially with regard to how they may have altered in the last 12 months as a result of COVID-19.

The report shows that the proportion of employers providing training and professional development for their staff has remained broadly stable since we gathered similar information in the Employer Skills Survey 2019, though a greater number reported identifying skills gaps, potentially as a result of COVID-19 altering business requirements and practices.

It is unclear whether this difference is solely due to the impacts of COVID-19 or is a result of the more focused scope of the CIMA survey. It covers 1023 small and medium-sized businesses (10-249 staff employed), whereas the Employer Skills Survey engages with 70,000 employers of all sizes across England.

The next wave of the Employer Skills Survey is this year, which will provide an updated and more detailed understanding of skills needs and investment and training behaviour. In addition, the Skills for Jobs white paper sets out reforms to post-16 technical education and training to support people to develop the skills needed to get good jobs and improve national productivity.

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