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Continuing skills shortages as Leitch report fails to make an impact

By Sue Mennell (14-04-2008)
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Learning and Development News - Continuing skills shortages as Leitch report fails to make an impact

Although the majority of employers acknowledge that they will require a broader range of skills over the next two years only 13 per cent have signed up to the employer skills pledge.

Employers have identified soft skills such as communications and interpersonal skills and management and leadership skills as top of their agenda, which is at odds with the government focus on much more basic skills such as numeracy and literacy. 

While acknowledging the importance of basic skills and the role of government in ensuring young people are educated to the appropriate standard, organisations expressed concern that young people joining the workforce from schools, further education and universities are still not being equipped with the skills organisations need. They called on government to do more to close the skills gaps.

Victoria Winkler, Learning and Development Adviser at the CIPD says: "There is no doubting the government's commitment to making the UK a skills leader by 2020. But there appears to be more work to be done to convince employers that the government has the right answers to the problem. There is a danger that the Government's drive to equip everyone with basic skills may be coming at the expense of the urgent need to develop higher level skills on a more selective basis. This may be one reason behind the relatively low take up of initiatives following the Leitch report.”

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