Employers hold the key to closing the skills gap

The theme for this year’s National Apprenticeships Week is Skills for Life – a celebration of how apprenticeship and skills can lead to rewarding careers, and a future-ready workforce. It’s a great opportunity to highlight the important role that employers play in closing the skills gap – but also the challenges that they face.

Listening to employers

Employers witness the impact of the growing skills gaps first hand, and they understand that there is friction between work and education. Key issues include retention rates, lack of skills needed for the job and growing competition within businesses. However, when it comes to creating policies which align with the needs of employers, their voices are not being heard.

In the 2022 Employer Skills Survey, 15% of employers reported a skills gap – a jump from 13% in 2017. 

Understanding the Skills Gaps

Digital literacy is an increasingly important skill for UK workers. However, many employees report that they do not feel sufficiently equipped to deal with tasks at work due to a lack of training.

• 27% of UK workers say that they lack the digital skills required for their profession.
• 58% say their employer has never provided them with training to improve their digital skills.
• Another 58% of workers have said that their lack of digital skills has affected them negatively in the workplace.

With the relevant support to invest in training, employers can play a key role in filling knowledge gaps across their workforce.

The solution is apprenticeships

One of the main areas where employer involvement can profoundly reduce the skills gap is through apprenticeships, which are slowly shedding outdated misconceptions of being for physical trades only, or as an inferior alternative to university education

By showcasing success stories, demonstrating the significance of apprenticeships in career progression, and tailoring apprenticeship programs to meet the specific needs of industries, employers have the opportunity to rewrite the narrative surrounding apprenticeships. They can help reshape the public perception and highlight the broad range of career paths that apprenticeships can offer, meaning that far more UK workers can benefit from the opportunity to upskill – whether they are new to the world of work, or are growing an already-established career.  

However, tackling the skills deficit shouldn’t be a burden that businesses are required to carry alone. By failing to take employers’ input into account when creating policies aimed at bridging these gaps, ministers frequently miss the mark, hindering progress.

By collaborating with employers when creating and updating apprenticeship standards, qualifications are far more likely to meet industry-specific requirements, becoming more valuable not only to employers and apprentices but also to the UK economy.