According to O’Reilly research, UK employers are losing confidence in the government’s skills initiatives.
In a survey conducted by a training company, 49% of employers with over 250 employees rated digital on-the-job education as more important than higher educational attainment.
Most are “somewhat” confident (39%) or not confident (12%) that Skills England, the new government agency responsible for addressing the digital skills gap in the UK workforce. Nearly two-thirds (16%) of respondents are unsure whether it will have any impact.
Skills England was introduced in July. Its mandate is to bring together a “fractured landscape” of skills, working with employers and other bodies like the Migration Advisory Council.
According to the House of Commons Digital Skills Committee, it is estimated that the UK economy loses PS63 billion annually due to the digital skills deficit.
O’Reilly says that employers are now taking their own skills development in their hands.
Over a quarter of UK employers (26%) have increased their spending on apprenticeship schemes between 21% and 40 %, while another 24% have increased their spend from 41% to 60 %. The survey revealed that almost one fifth (16%) of employers have increased their spending from 61% to 80%.
Employers in the UK are looking for skills that will be most valuable to them over the next year. These include AI/machine learning (61%), cybersecurity (48%), analytics (48%), cloud computing (43%), and programming (32%).
Even though employers have increased their investment in apprenticeship programmes, they still prefer to invest in recruiting new talent than in developing the skills of their existing employees.
O’Reilly’s research shows that 79% of employees actively sought to improve their digital skill over the last 12 months.
In the next 12 months, it is estimated that about a third of UK employers (35%) will spend between PS35,000 to PS50,000 on recruiting for skills in priority areas. Comparatively, only 31% of employers will spend between PS35,000 and PS50,000 to improve the skills of their employees.
Alexia Pedersen is the SVP International for O’Reilly. She said that UK employers are responsible for preparing their workforce to use the digital technology of the future.
She said that employers could use the “in the flow” approach to give staff real-time access quality learning material.
This is important not only for young talent that are new to their careers and are managing their time but also for existing employees that are actively seeking opportunities to further their career development.
This approach will improve employee productivity and engagement, and foster innovation and growth, which will benefit your bottom line.
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