Figure 1: Percentages of Fulltime Graduates Working or Studying, 2011/12 and 2013/14 (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2016).


But a fundamental part of Employability is to close the skills gap in UK industry and commerce. A recent Local Enterprise Partnership Business Survey found that 43% of businesses felt that a shortage of skills was a barrier to growth, 61% of the respondents were from engineering companies. Nationally/ internationally, the UK skills gap is shown in Figure 2 where GDP/ hour worked for the UK is compared with our major competitors.


However much we may wish to contest on what basis these comparisons are made, such as ‘the UK has a much higher service industry component like finance’, nevertheless UK productivity lags behind other developed economies. Employers


are investing less in training. Given recent developments, UK industry must ‘raise its game’ to maintain its position as a major industrial nation. The UK lubricant industry is a leading, innovative, hi-tech industry and has its part in raising the Employability of its staff; this applies both ways, because the UK lubricant industry will need a stream of higher qualified people to maintain its international position.


From the applied technical nature of the UK lubricants industry, there are two ways to contribute to student Employability; first, the industrial, ‘sandwich’ placement year and internships and second, the Higher Apprentice Degree Scheme.


Figure 2: GDP/hr Worked for UK and Comparator Countries, 2014.


Continued on page 20


LUBE MAGAZINE NO.136 DECEMBER 2016


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