More than 30% of employers refuse to provide training to
develop the skills of their staff, according to the Trades Union
Congress.
A TUC report found that 35% of employers were refusing to train
their staff in new skills, despite government incentives to
encourage workforce development.
Across all industrial sectors, more than 8.5 million staff were
going without training, and of those who did receive training, only
11.5% gained a nationally recognised qualification, the TUC
said.
The TUC findings suggest that IT professionals may have more
access to training than other groups. Survey results published this
month from IT industry skills council E-Skills UK revealed
that despite fears of an increasing skills gap, 20% of firms said
they would not train staff in the coming year.
David Pardo, director of IT training consultancy Pardo Fox,
said, “Given how fast IT skills can become obsolete, you would
expect that training would be more important in IT than in some
other areas of work.”
He said the IT training market had experienced “continuing
modest growth” over the past two and a half years, but added, “Even
now it is still not back to the peak it hit in 2000. Employers
exaggerate the amount of training they provide.” he added.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said, “Employers should
stop complaining so much about the skills levels of their staff and
spend more on training them.”
The government should legislate to make sure that workers
receive paid time off to train, he added.
Vote for your IT greats
Who have been the most influential people in IT in the past 40
years? The greatest organisations? The best hardware and software
technologies? As part of Computer Weekly’s 40th anniversary
celebrations, we are asking our readers who and what has really
made a difference?
Vote now at:
www.computerweekly.com/ITgreats