TRAINING
Skills gap s in the rail industry
RTM speaks to Simon Tarr, chief operating officer at sector skills council People 1st, about employment and skills trends in the rail industry.
People 1st’s chief operating officer, Simon Tarr, told RTM that across passenger transport, but in rail especially, there’s been a gradual recognition of the need for better customer service skills.
He said: A
nalysis of official labour force statistics suggests that rail has a workforce of around
133,000, plus another 20,400 in light rail. But as might be expected, the sector is much older and more male than the UK workforce as a whole, and employers report troubling gaps in skills.
The workforce according to recent figures was split across 2,194 rail businesses, and 310 in light rail.
The research by People 1st, the sector skills council that has covered passenger transport since its July 2011 merger with GoSkills, shows that 42% of rail employers say more than half of their staff could use extra training, especially on customer service and working across different teams. Across passenger transport as a whole, the organisation has said there is an “impending crisis” when it comes to skills shortages.
The report, ‘State of the Nation Report 2012 – Passenger Transport’, paints a picture of rising pay on the railways, especially for people classed as ‘rail travel assistants’ – a 23% rise over five years between 2007 and 2011 to £28,993 gross average earnings – compared to falls in pay during that time for others in passenger transport, such as air travel assistants, driving instructors and cab drivers. Those in ‘rail operations’ experienced a 13% rise, with average gross earnings at £34,159 in 2011, while there was a much smaller 4% rise for those in ‘rail maintenance and construction’ to £31,168.
28 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 12 “One
key thing is that passenger
transport is used for leisure, and that highlights the important relationship between passenger transport and tourism, with many passengers either domestic or international visitors. It’s all about the overall experience.
“The prime focus for passenger transport in the past has been on transporting passengers in a safe and efficient manner. We’re now realising that consumers are increasingly expecting an ‘experience’ – with high levels of customer service and facilities that will make their journey enjoyable and, for some, productive.
“If you’re being delayed, but you’re then handled in a positive and friendly manner, that can ultimately make the whole experience better.
The other thing is the link with hospitality and retail outlets: if you go on a train journey or even a plane journey, hospitality and selling you products is a key part of that experience.”
The report’s quantitative studies were backed up with qualitative data and quotes from senior people, such as Southern and Gatwick Express’ HR director Matt Watson who said: “We believe that more people will choose to travel on our trains if we provide better all-round customer service. The first thing you’ve got to absolutely do is get the train service to run reliably. However, if you can delight people on the way, even when reliability lets them down, people will be inclined to say, ‘Well, why would I get in a car to go to wherever? I will get the train.’”
New opportunities
For obvious reasons, recruitment has got easier with the economic downturn, with more people chasing each job. But about 10% of rail employers say they still have hard-to-fill vacancies, primarily because not enough applicants with the right level of skills and suitable qualifications apply.
Rail is also skewed towards older workers, meaning there are fewer openings for graduates and apprentices and younger people in general.
But Tarr said there are opportunities there. He told us: “In a situation when you’ve got a million people unemployed who are under 25, in many cases some very bright individuals, we have an opportunity to get those individuals into a sector that in the past they wouldn’t have even looked at coming into.”
He said People 1st is developing a website explaining the career pathways and offering guidance on a passenger transport career, and wants to clearly communicate to potential applicants that there are plenty of qualifications to be gained while working.
The report suggests a stark difference between heavy rail and light rail when it comes to apprenticeships. While there are far fewer UK businesses in the light rail sector, nearly a quarter of them, 23%, employ apprentices. The equivalent figure for heavy rail is just 3%. This may be to do with the fact that the smaller number of businesses in light rail tend to be larger employers, who are more likely to be able to offer apprenticeships, rather than anything inherent to it as a transport mode.
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