Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Action learningBlended learningLearning & developmentLearning & Skills CouncilsOpinion

Back earning while learning

by Personnel Today 1 Jan 2004
by Personnel Today 1 Jan 2004


Derek Simpson argues the business case for workplace learning

The recent publication of the Government’s White Paper, 21st Century Skills provides an opportune moment to highlight the impending threat to UK industry if we fail to act now to alleviate current and potential skills gaps.

Manufacturing in the UK is under enormous competitive global pressure, with the quest for cutting costs on every manager’s lips. Unfortunately, training budgets are often the early casualties of short-term penny-pinching, when investment in skills development should actually be the priority.

The engineering and manufacturing sector, in partnership with the Government and its agencies, needs to work together with trade unions and sector strategy groups to develop rigorous, professional and in-depth understanding of requirements that can reduce skills shortages and anticipate future needs.

At Amicus, we seek to actively represent and promote the development of skills and education by improving and sustaining the learning supply, incorporating advanced modern apprenticeships, higher education and national occupational standards.

Some of the UK’s outstanding achievers in engineering do come from the A level to university degree academic route. But it is not always recognised that a proportion of these highly-successful engineering careers reached chartered status through the vocational route, from GCSE to Advanced Modern Apprenticeship (AMA) and then with employer support, to degree level at a more mature stage of their personal development.

The Government’s aim of 50 per cent of school leavers going on to higher education is commendable, but why does it need to be straight from school?

Earning while you learn is an attractive alternative to student loans. It is not unusual at the end of the apprenticeship to be earning between £20k and £30k a year without the burden of paying back the student loan.

There have been many successful campaigns to promote vocational GCSEs and A levels in engineering, and bodies such as WISE (Women in Science & Engineering) have shattered the illusion that engineering or AMAs are only for the boys.

Diversity is not only desirable, but necessary. We need to get the message across to ethnic and indigenous communities that engineering and manufacturing offer worthwhile career paths.

The priority is to increase employer engagement with education, skills and learning. The move from national trade organisations to sector skills councils was to ensure that demand for training would be employer-led. It is now down to employers to refresh training budgets and invest in people and skills. The stark reality is that employers are the first to complain about skill shortages, but are shy in coming forward to offer much-needed placements.

Applications for AMA places are already outstripping the placements offered by a ratio of five to one in some sectors and regions. The current influx of school leavers will diminish over the next two decades due to a demographic shift, so now is the time for employers to act by offering AMAs and graduate apprenticeships so students can earn while they learn.

Lifelong learning improvements in learning supply and an increasing demand for vocational routes into higher education will fall on stony ground if we fail to deliver the opportunities and placements.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Engineering manufacturing currently employs more than 1.5 million people, or 6 per cent of the UK workforce. Employment fell in the sector by 5 per cent between 2000 to 2001, while the number of workplaces declined by 1.3 per cent.

Although the level of employment has declined, gross added value per employee has risen by 3 per cent, reflecting a real increase in productivity. Amicus would suggest this is due to the increasing activity in education and skills, which reinforces our view that vocational education is a worthwhile investment.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Flying the flag for women’s health
next post
Aiming for future perfect

You may also like

Culture, ‘micro-incivilities’ and invisible talent

14 May 2025

Investing in skills when budgets are tight

12 May 2025

Rethinking talent: Who was never considered in the...

7 May 2025

Eight ways to best support grieving employees

6 May 2025

Leading with honest feedback: A responsibility in recruitment

24 Apr 2025

High-level apprenticeship spend doubles in five years

16 Apr 2025

Exploring the best London office locations for ‘Zillennials’

16 Apr 2025

Number of SMEs hiring staff in decline

10 Apr 2025

Gen Z and ‘conscious unbossing’: how can HR...

7 Apr 2025

How to build a commercially-minded workforce

3 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+