Skilling up the nation

e-skills UK, the employer-led IT skills advisory group welcomed the publication of the Government’s Skills Strategy White Paper, and claimed that the lack of IT skills amongst the working population is a real problem for employers across many industries.

However, it made the distinction to UKTECH that it was referring to user-skills rather than higher level professional skills.

A spokesman for e-skills told UKTECH: "We are not addressing a technical or professional IT skill-set here. We are talking about what we define as 'user-skills'. This would cover issues where an employer requires employees to be proficient in skills associated with using email, Word programmes, Database administration. It's more to do with people who need to be IT literate as part of their job, rather than have IT as their profession."

e-skills, which is one of the first Government fully licensed Sector Skills Councils, expressed its support for the Government’s Skills Strategy White Paper, (21st Century Skills Realising Our Potential) which puts employers centre stage in defining and delivering a skills strategy that meets the real-world needs of business.

e-skills was one of the first organisations to respond to the publication of the Government's White Paper which focuses on delivering the skills that the individual, employers and the nation require for the 21st century and, as such, much of the Paper deals with equipping individuals with basic skills.

In its announcement, e-skills said: "The lack of IT skills amongst the working population is a real problem for employers across many industries. These include problems in the IT and Telecoms sectors where 57 per cent of firms report shortcomings in the skills of their existing professional workforce with hard to fill vacancies found at seven per cent of companies.

"In the Contact Centre sector 32 per cent of staff lack the type or level of skills to meet business objectives with 11 per cent of firms experiencing recruitment difficulties due to skills deficiencies. However, IT skills shortfalls are not confined to these industries. More than 20 million adults in England alone do not have basic IT skills and 30 per cent of employers are reporting recruitment difficulties as a result. This is why e-skills UK particularly welcomes the announcement today that places ICT skills alongside literacy and numeracy as the third basic skill needed for employability."

e-skills e-skills UK's Board members include the CEOs and heads of IT from large organisations across the UK, including IBM, Accenture, Oracle, Microsoft, EDS, Dell, Hewlett Packard, BT, BA, Ford, Sainsburys, John Lewis, Morgan Stanley, T-mobile and the Inland Revenue.

Karen Price, CEO, e-skills UK said: "Sector Skills Councils, like e-skills UK, will play a central role in fulfilling the government’s skills strategy. At e-skills UK we are working with employers, educators, government agencies and employees to address four key issues; the skills supply to the sectors; workforce development at all levels; the negative stereotyping and gender imbalance within the IT sector and the need for accurate skills information across the UK."

e-skills claims that the ICT workforce comprises some 1,133,544 professionals, approximately four per cent of the UK workforce. The UK Contact Centre workforce stands at 867,000, representing over 3.1 per cent of the UK working population. This figure is expected to continue to grow with 43 per cent of contact centres anticipating a need to increase the number of call handlers.

White Paper

Education Secretary Charles Clarke unveiled the Skills Strategy White Paper with free learning for adults who need it most, a new adult learning grant to help them meet the costs of learning, and a strengthening of Modern Apprenticeships among the measures that will deliver the skills that individuals, employers and the nation require for the 21st century.

It also included a new partnership of Government, the CBI, the TUC, the Small Business Council, and key delivery partners, to bring together in a 'Skills Alliance' to drive forward the strategy to ensure that skills needs are identified, mapped and met to increase national productivity and individual employability.

Launching the new strategy, Charles Clarke said: "Skills matter. They help business to compete, and they help individuals raise their employability and provide a route to a better life. The success of the country depends on our skill base.

"For the first time, we have produced a skills strategy based on a true partnership to enable more businesses to win in the global economy, by developing a multi-skilled flexible labour force.

"Increasing the nation's skills levels is not about endless piecemeal initiatives. It's about a partnership between the Government, business and the unions, working together to forge a Skills Alliance."

Heavy-hitters from Government and other organisations lined up to welcome the initiative.

Gordon Brown

The 'Skills Alliance,' was launched at a high level breakfast event where key members of the new Skills Alliance committed to driving forward the Skills Strategy to deliver a flexible, responsive and customer-focused approach to skills training, responding to employers' and individuals' demands - when, where and how they want it.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said: "Skills are Britain's Achilles Heel, the most worrying inflexibility of all within our labour market. The more skilled men and women there are, and the more they are willing to develop new skills, the more flexible the economy is likely to be - crucial to achieving full employment. Improving skills will be central to our next Spending Review, so today's White Paper is a vital step to forge new partnerships, expand skills and make labour markets work more flexibly."

Patricia Hewitt

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "The skills gap hits business hardest - and this strategy puts their needs first. It's a good result for business - and our economy. It recognises that our education system must meet the needs of the workplace. This is a strategy that responds to what business needs, enabling us to meet the demands of the economy.

"Although the UK is one of the most competitive places in the world to do business, we still lag behind many of our international competitors in terms of productivity, and part of that is due to the skills gap we have identified. Involving employers in vocational education, opening up education to people of all ages and focusing on adults' basic skills are all part of a far-reaching strategy that puts the UK firmly on track to the high value, high skills economy we need.

"We all have a stake in higher skills - we must all work together to achieve the outcomes we want. The DfES and DTI are already working much more closely together and I will be publishing our Innovation Review in the Autumn to support this strategy."

Andrew Smith

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Andrew Smith said the Skills Strategy and Alliance would prove invaluable in helping to build on the impressive employment record to date.

"Our active labour market policies, including the New Deal and our investment in Jobcentre Plus, have ensured record levels of employment in the UK. Improving skills is central to our goal of full employment as it is often the key that can unlock the door to a job. The Skills Strategy outlines how we can go further to ensure that people have the right training and skills to fulfil their potential and continue our successful employment record."

Digby Jones - CBI

CBI Director-General, Digby Jones said: "Charles Clarke is right to recognise the role of employers and is giving them a greater say in the content and delivery of training programmes. For too long there has been a mismatch between the needs of employers and the services of training providers. But, the challenge now is to turn paper promises into practical realities as soon as possible."

Brendan Barber - TUC

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Tackling the UK's skills deficit poses a huge challenge to us all. Today's announcement that government, employers and unions are to work side by side in the Skills Alliance is a great boost to the unions and employers who are already working together to improve training in workplaces across the UK. A highly skilled workforce is ultimately in everyone's interest - the individual workers, their employers and the UK economy."