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SURVEY
Figure 2: Factors cited as reasons to leave the industry
rising costs, respectively. This is further indication of a stable industry during the economic downturn.
A common concern in times of recession is that cut backs will be made in key areas such as training and development. However, the findings from Working in Fitness indicate this is not the case with a reported average six training days per worker consistent with previous years. Training spend did not increase this year with an average £484 spent per trainee. This training is mainly funded by the trainee themselves (58 per cent) whilst just over one quarter (27 per cent) report employers paying for it all. The public sector and charity, voluntary and community sector are a lot more supportive with half and two-fifths of workers, respectively, receiving full employer support. The private sector workers, however, report mainly paying for their own training (72 per cent compared to 65 per cent last year).
It is important that organisations continue
Table 3: Who pays for the training undertaken by occupation
to train their staff as results indicate there is a connection between staff development and the recommendation of an employer and also a link to the planned long term future of workers in the fitness industry. Nearly two-fifths of the workforce (37 per cent) who had undertaken no training would not recommend their employer whilst 81 per cent of staff who had spent 11 or more days training would refer their employer. This is further evidenced by the 46 per cent of workers who felt they had been given insufficient training and would not make a recommendation whilst 81 per cent of those receiving enough training would.
Interestingly, as expectations on remaining in the industry rise so do the average training days received. Those who intend to stay for up to one year received an average 3.6 training days, up to three years received 4.6 training days, up to five years 4.7 days and more than five years 5.9 training days.
Generally, management occupations receive a lot more support from their employer; 75 per cent of club / duty
managers, 64 per cent of exercise referral/ clinical exercise / active programme managers and 50 per cent of senior management have their training paid for. Overall, fewer trainees report employers contributing to training than was seen in the last two years, 27 per cent compared to 40 per cent in 2008 and 31 per cent in 2007. However, there has been a small improvement in the proportion of workers receiving enough training to do their job properly, 75 per cent are satisfied compared to 70 per cent last year leaving 17 per cent still reporting a problem. Only nine per cent of the workforce did not attend any training, lower than the proportion reporting a lack of training which suggests there may be a problem with the relevance of training or they felt they needed more training hours than they received.
In summary, there is some evidence of a slow down in the industry with fewer workers reporting an increase in pay and static training spend but workers remain positive about their long-term future in the industry, the majority are still recommending the organisation they work for and the number of training days has not fallen. The public sector does appear to have more positive reports than the private sector and pay and career progression remain key factors for the workforce. The results of the Working in Fitness Survey 2009 can be found at www.skillsactive.com and more detail on salaries, training levels and satisfaction at an occupational level are in the full report. If you are interested in participating next year or have any comments about the findings please contact research@skillsactive.com
THE AUTHOR
Liz joined SkillsActive in December 2004. Her research career started at the
South East England Regional
Development Agency (SEEDA) as a Research Assistant and continued into the South East England Skills Research Unit – Skills Insight where she developed her expertise in labour market intelligence. Liz now specialises in the active leisure and learning sector.