The skills gap in the UK appears to be taking its toll on businesses in the country, with new research revealing that 90 per cent of employers are now finding it hard to recruit members of staff with the requisite skills.
The Open University Business Barometer has found that some companies have had to inflate their salaries above market rate in order to bring in the top talent, which is costing at least £527 million. In all, more than £2 billion a year is now spent on recruitment costs, higher salaries and temporary staffing.
The recruitment process is also taking longer for 75 per cent of employers because people in jobs are reluctant to move elsewhere because of uncertainty surrounding Brexit. What’s more, there is a lack of clarity regarding future immigration rules, which is deterring some EU nationals from looking for jobs in the UK.
Managerial roles are proving hard to fill, with 21 per cent of firms struggling to take on senior managers and 19 per cent finding it hard to hire mid-level managers. Some 47 per cent are now saying they’re also struggling to hire people with the right level of IT skills.
External engagement director at The Open University Steve Hill said: “Organisations need an agile workforce that can embrace change and meet new challenges. The cost of the skills gap to the UK economy shows it must become a business and government priority to build the skills and capabilities of each individual through investing in talent at all levels.
“The Open University has a number of offerings, such as degree apprenticeships, which help to future-proof UK businesses and enable lifelong learning, as well as enabling greater social mobility by increasing opportunities.”
Back in April, The Open University and The Association of Colleges issued a call for a national skills strategy to be devised that would focus on long-term investment and reforms in adult education in order to address the problem.
The key to achieving homegrown talent is scale, speed, investment and partnerships, necessary as the UK prepares to leave the European Union.
Mr Hill explained that now is the perfect opportunity to really focus on developing lifelong learning among adults in England, a move that will help solve the skills crisis and also increase productivity. Adults must be given more affordable and flexible ways of retraining themselves and developing key skills – which could help deliver huge benefits to the UK economy.
Ways to encourage lifelong learning could include a careers and education service available to people of all ages, clear progression pathways to help workers build careers, a national credit rating and transfer service to recognise prior education and guaranteed total apprenticeship spending with more funds made available to smaller companies.
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