Against a backdrop of widespread recruitment difficulties in the UK, employers are still overly focused on qualifications.
Despite record levels of job vacancies across a variety of sectors in the UK and employers experiencing difficulties finding the quantity and quality of labour needed, there are clear gaps in what employers are doing to address the problem, and a lack of awareness of the key skills initiatives available that could help, finds the CIPD report, Employer Views on Skills Policy in the UK, published in August.
Some 57% of employers are still asking mainly for degrees or postgraduate qualifications when recruiting staff. While many professions do require a level of knowledge and expertise that a degree is beneficial in providing, in some roles, skills gaps are being exacerbated by a failure to think of sources of talent more broadly, according to the report.
A total of 36% of employers agree that their people managers receive inadequate training on how they develop their people. Line managers need to be supported to nurture the growth and development of all staff to ensure continuous development at work, says the report.
Recruitment difficulties are highest in the public sector and more prevalent among professional occupations, where 43% of employers say applicants do not have the required skills.
The skills that employers are having most difficulty in finding include technical skills, as well as softer skills such as problem solving, planning and organisational skills, and customer handling. In response, employers are focusing on improving pay and conditions, but also upskilling existing staff and offering apprenticeships. This provides an opportunity for policymakers to engage employers in skills-based initiatives.
Employers who take a more strategic approach to skills – conducting a workforce planning exercise and putting a training plan in place – are more likely to address current and future skills needs, ensure that work is well designed and that managers are equipped with the skills they need to develop their people, says the report.