UK employers have lost confidence in government skills initiatives, according to research from O’Reilly.
The training company’s survey of 500 employers with more than 250 staff found that 49% consider digital, on-the-job learning to be more important than higher education.
The majority are only “somewhat confident” (39%) or “not confident” (12%) in the ability of new government body Skills England to close the digital skills gaps in the UK workforce. Almost two in five (16%) are not confident at all that it will make an impact.
Skills England was launched in July with a remit of bringing together the “fractured skills landscape”, working with employers and bodies such as the Migration Advisory Committee to target areas of skills shortages and address them.
According to a House of Commons digital skills committee, the digital skills gap is estimated to cost the UK economy £63 billion per year.
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With this backdrop, employers are taking skills development into their own hands, according to O’Reilly.
More than a quarter (26%) of UK employers have increased spend on apprenticeship schemes by between 21% and 40%, while a further 24% have increased spend by 41% to 60%. Almost one in five (16%) have increased spending by 61% to 80%, the survey found.
Skills priorities for UK employers over the next 12 months include AI and machine learning (61%), cybersecurity (48%), data analysis (48%), cloud computing (43%) and programming (32%).
Although investment in apprenticeship schemes has increased, employers are still investing more in recruitment to acquire new talent rather than building skills among their own employees.
This is despite 79% of existing employees proactively seeking opportunities to improve their digital skills over the past twelve months, O’Reilly found.
It estimates that around a third (35%) of UK employers will spend between £35,000 and £50,000 on recruitment for skills in their priority areas over the next twelve months. By comparison, only 31% will invest between £35,000 to £50,000 on learning and development to enhance these skills within their workforce.
Alexia Pedersen, SVP International at O’Reilly said UK employers have a responsibility to prepare the workforce for the digital tech of the future.
“To bridge the gap between learning and day-to-day responsibilities, employers can harness the ‘in the flow of work’ approach to provide staff with real-time access to quality learning content,” she said.
“This is particularly important for not only young talent who are new to the workforce and managing their time, but also existing employees who are proactively seeking opportunities to advance their career development.
“In turn, this approach to workplace learning will increase employee engagement and productivity, fostering innovation and growth that improves your bottom line.”
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