There’s a widespread skills mismatch between employees and jobs in the UK, while Britain’s workers are trailing behind counterparts elsewhere when it comes to being creative.
Almost half (49%) of UK workers are in jobs they are either under- or over-skilled for, according to the CIPD’s report Over-skilled and Underused: Investigating the Untapped Potential of UK Skills, which surveyed 3,700 UK employees.
A quarter (24%) of respondents said they hadn’t received training/development in the last year, with older employees, low wage workers, those on part-time contracts and the self-employed most likely to say this.
Lizzie Crowley, skills adviser at the CIPD, said, “There needs to be a much greater emphasis on how well existing skills and capabilities of individuals are harnessed and developed at work, through better people management practices and access to development opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Steelcase’s study of nearly 5,000 workers around the globe highlights how Britain is trailing behind the US, Germany and France when it comes to how creative staff are at work. Britain’s workers are among the least frequently creative, with just 36% creative every day. Many UK employees believe they don’t need to be more creative, and are resistant to change, yet 52% indicated they’d like to be more creative at work. Obstacles to creativity include organisational barriers, resistance to change, and not seeing a need for creativity.
The CIPD finds 37% of workers have the skills to cope with more demanding duties than they currently have and 12% lack all the skills needed to carry out their job effectively. The UK has one of the most skilled workforces in the world – 42% have degrees – yet also has the highest proportion of jobs within the OECD requiring no qualifications.
The CIPD’s survey reveals many graduates are in jobs not requiring degree-level qualifications and that having a university degree is no guarantee of being prepared for the workplace. More university graduates said they were under-skilled for their role (14%) compared to non-graduates (10%).