Skills shortage will cause future issues

Sep 5 2007 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

The North-East has a bigger skills gap than much of the country. Andrew Mernin looks at what is being done to fill the gap.

DESPITE the efforts of local authorities and the region’s mass employers the North-East still falls short when it comes to skills in the workplace.

A reliance on now diminished heavy industries and a high proportion of long-term unemployment are just some of the reasons given by corporate experts.

According to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) 21% of North-East businesses have a skills gap compared to the national average of 16%.

Meanwhile only 79% of working age adults in the region have literacy at Level 1 or above compared to the English average of 84%.

However there are signs that things are beginning to change as Prime Minister Gordon Brown has put ‘up-skill the nation’ at the top of his to do list.

In July this year the Government released its Leitch Implementation of Skills plan which is aimed at turning the UK into a leader in skills by 2020.

The plan was a response to Lord Leitch’s 2006 report which set out a series of ambitious targets such as increase annual enrolment on apprenticeships in the UK to 500,000.

This is no mean feat when you consider this figure currently stands at 258,282. In this region it is estimated that 70,000 new jobs will be created by 2016 so we need skills and we need them fast.

Fortunately there are a number of bodies across the North-East that are spearheading the bid to bring the region up to scratch.

One such organisation is the LSC which is leading the battle against the region’s skills shortage.

As the group’s skills director, Michael Mitchell is the man charged with Lord Leitch’s groundwork in the North-East.

He admits the targets set out by the Government are ambitious and that the region does suffer from a number of hindrances when it comes to skills development.

While he praises the work of some of the region’s larger organisations he says there are some common misconceptions made by smaller companies when it comes to training.

“Some employers ask why they should take staff offline and train them up for the future if it’s not going to improve their business. The trick for me is to say unless you do something now you are going to miss out.

“Large organisations see the future and are doing the right things but then you’ll get some SMEs that are not really bothered, but that is where the majority of people in the region are employed. We have to get it over to them that the long-term future of their business depends on the passing on of skills.”

The LSC may be helping the North-East catch up with the rest of the country in terms of skills but there is still much to be done.

“People talk about the dependance in the North-East on heavy industry and there is still this idea that the region would love a huge heavy industry employer to come back and sweep up all the labour,” said Mr Mitchell.

“We also have a lot of people on incapacity benefit [and] some children have parents that have never worked so we have to break this culture and say that you can have a better life if you invest in up-skilling yourself.”

Mr Mitchell also warns of the danger of relying too heavily on workers from overseas. He argues that UK companies could be left short of labour in the future.

“We are getting our workforce from Eastern Europe which is great but once countries like Poland get their European social funding and start to develop themselves the construction workers could return home.”

In 2010 the Government will review its skills pledge and Mr Mitchell believes we could see a firmer stance made towards businesses with the introduction of laws to enforce skills development.