• • • TRAINING • • •
In-Comm report reveals a current lack of confidence in government support
is impacting the growing skills gap Less than one fifth (18 per cent) of engineering and manufacturing businesses are confident that the government can solve the skills shortage according to a new report out today
picture of industry confusion when it comes to understanding what Labour is doing to bridge the well-publicised gap.
T
78 per cent of firms questioned believe that there is not enough support available to boost their training fortunes (a 6 per cent increase on last year), whilst more than three fifths (61 per cent) do not understand what Skills England has been set up to do.
All of this is contributing to a mixed skills landscape for companies struggling to balance workforce development with going after new opportunities in electrification, reshoring and value-added engineering.
“I think the devil is going to be in the detail and Labour needs to quickly communicate how it is changing apprenticeships and training support,” explained Gareth Jones, Managing Director of In-Comm Training. “The issue it faces comes from a lack of standardisation in the skills system through many different governments, regardless of colour. This has created confusion, distrust and a lack of understanding and engagement.” He continued: “Our firms, who have been battered by inflation, rising energy costs and the impending minimum wage and NIC increases, are
he latest In-Comm Training Barometer, which took in the opinions of 103 Capital Managing Directors and HR leads, paints a
struggling to look past the headlines and currently have little confidence that the government is going to be a positive influence in helping it bridge the skills gap.
“A few announcements have already been made that indicate we are in the middle of change, but they’ve been announced before an actual Industrial Strategy has been finalised. There definitely appears to be an increased void between policy and the shopfloor.” The In-Comm Training Barometer is one of the UK’s leading reports on the current skills and training landscape, providing critical data on provision, apprenticeships and company sentiment. For the first time in the history of the survey, less than half (46 per cent) of businesses are planning to increase investment in their training budget, a sign that external factors are encroaching on skills spending. Two thirds have issued a call to reform the Apprenticeship Levy, with a focus on making sure they have greater control on what they can spend funding on and a definite split between wanting money for apprentices and money for other types of training.
There was an eight per cent uptick in the number of companies looking to recruit an apprentice at 69 per cent of firms questioned, with developing future talent, fulfilling a skills gap and upskilling the three main priorities.
In-house infrastructure and access to the right Apprenticeship standards continue to be the biggest barriers (26 per cent and 23 per cent respectively) to investing in vocational learning.
42 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • MARCH 2025
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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