Skills monitoring survey for Workforce Development Forum Areas published

The Department for Employment and Learning has today published the Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey 2008: Workforce Development Forum (WDF) Area Report.

This report provides an overview of the issues connected with current vacancies, difficulties in filling vacancies, retention difficulties, skill shortages, skill gaps and training from an employer’s perspective at WDF level. There are six WDF areas in Northern Ireland, namely Belfast, Northern, North West, Southern, South Eastern and South West.

Key findings include:

• at the time the research was undertaken, 12% of employers reported having a current vacancy. Employers in the Belfast WDF area were most likely to have a vacancy (16%) and those in the Northern WDF were least likely to (9%);
• employers with vacancies in the South West were most likely to report difficult-to-fill vacancies (54%) and were most likely to attribute at least some of their recruitment difficulties to a lack of applicants with the required skills, experience or qualifications (40% of employers with vacancies);
• overall, one fifth (22%) of employers reported proficiency-based skill gaps; that is having at least one employee not able to do their job to the required level, and this is relatively consistent across all six WDF areas;
• a lack of experience or staff being recently recruited is the most frequently cited reason by employers for skill gaps, across all six WDF areas;
• overall, almost three quarters of employers (74%) had organised some training for their employees in the previous 12 months. Those in the South Eastern WDF were most likely to have arranged training (81%), while those in the South West WDF were least likely to have funded or arranged training (68%);
• over half (53%) of all Northern Ireland employers provided off-the-job training, while three fifths (61%) of employers had organised on-the-job training for their staff. Those in the South Eastern WDF were most likely to have arranged any off-the-job training (61%), while those in the North West WDF were most likely to have arranged any on-the-job training (67%); and
• the survey estimates overall employer expenditure on training in the previous 12 months to be £1.45billion. Employers in Belfast spent the most on training, £371million in total, accounting for 25% of the total training spend across Northern Ireland. Conversely, employers in the Southern WDF area spent the most on training per employee at £2,625.

Notes to editors:

1. The full report is available to download from the Department’s website.
2. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Employment and Learning Communications Branch on 028 9025 7872. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned