Thousands of people are dropping out of apprenticeships in England every year, after firms provided little or no training, according to a report. Official data suggests that nearly half of apprentices fail to complete their courses. EDSK, an education think tank, found that the majority of people quitting cited “poor quality”, including lack of training and bad management.
A new report suggests that L&D is highly valued by businesses looking to attract and retain staff, but it’s being undermined by costs, access to resources, and by remote or hybrid working. The report shows that L&D is ‘critical’ or ‘moderately critical’ to 86% of businesses surveyed, which supports the strong preference of many (68%) to promote to senior roles internally. L&D is also seen as vital for attracting and retaining employees although half of those surveyed say their L&D efforts are hampered by cost (50%) and access to resources (47%).
Research from Shape Talent identifies three barriers that hinder women’s progress in organisations across the UK – personal, societal and organisational. These cause conflict in decision making in women’s careers. As society reinforces the idea of women as the nurturer and homemaker, many women do not look for career opportunities that conflict with family responsibilities. The barriers are enforced by organisations imposing expectations that often conflict with women’s personal values and beliefs.
There are 2.5 million people across the UK on long-term sick, 240,000 people are “economically inactive” due to long-term illness while the number of people citing mental health and nervous disorders has risen by 22% since 2019. As a result, the UK is set to be the only developed country in the world with lower employment in 2023 than pre-pandemic.