Employers are being urged to implement more thorough training programmes for new staff, in a new report.
The report, by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), warns that the government must do more than put faith in employers to deliver the training necessary to address the UK’s skills shortage.
The TUC claim that 40 per cent of employers currently offer no programme of formal training.
It goes on to highlight the crucial role a new national training programme would play in encouraging employers to offer training to new staff.
Although the TUC welcomes the government’s recent announcement to roll out Employer Training Pilots (ETPs), the union believes it must do more if it is to meet its target of providing three million extra workers with skills equivalent to five good GCSE’s by the end of the decade.
Frances O’ Grady, TUC deputy general secretary, said: “Currently the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in term of training at work. The TUC has given strong support to the ETP pilot schemes and has long been campaigning for a national roll out.
“The ETP scheme must reach out to those employers who currently do not offer any training, particularly smaller businesses. There is a clear need for a new right to paid time off to ensure that no worker with these skills gaps is missing out on the training opportunities now available to them.”
However, though larger firms may welcome the call for further training, as many will get a chance to hone already existing programmes, smaller businesses, already struggling with the cost of increasing levels of red tape, may be less enthusiastic.
