Monitoring survey results will assist skills strategy
Friday, 15 February 2008The Department for Employment and Learning has published the findings of a research report looking at the current need for skills of Northern Ireland employers.
The Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey 2005: Sector Skills Councils Summary Report, summarises the key findings from the Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey 2005 for the 25 Sector Skills Councils and will provide a useful insight into employer skill needs.
The Report also provides the Department with a valuable insight into employer skill needs and will help to inform Skills Strategy and the future planning and funding of post 16 year old education and training provision. In particular, the Report will inform the work of the Skills Expert Group which has been established to advise government on the process of identifying skills needs and make recommendations on the steps required to meet those needs.
Key findings from the Report include:
- Current vacancies were reported by 11% of employers. The highest proportion in Skillfast-UK, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the Fashion and Textiles sector (18%).
- Overall, 6% of employers were experiencing difficulty in filling the current vacancies. Skillfast-UK had the highest incidence of employers reporting difficult to fill vacancies (12%).
- Approximately one third (34%) of difficult to fill vacancies were due to external skill shortages. External skill shortages were defined as those vacancies difficult to fill due to either a lack of skills; a lack of qualifications required or a lack of the work experience that the employer required.
- Skill shortages were most prevalent within e-Skills UK (84% of difficult to fill vacancies in that sector), SummitSkills (74%) and ConstructionSkills (57%).
- Skill gaps exist where there is a gap between an employee’s current skill level and what is needed to meet work objectives. In 2005, 9% of employers considered there to be a skill gap in their workforce.
- The existence of skill gaps was most prevalent within Skills for Care and Development (15%), Financial Services (14%), e-Skills UK (14%) and Skills for Health (14%).
Notes to Editors:
1. As part of the Department for Employment and Learning’s (DEL) Research Agenda, Central Survey Unit (CSU) was commissioned to provide an overview of issues connected with skill shortages, skill gaps and training, from an Northern Ireland employer’s perspective. The survey largely replicates the NI Skills Monitoring Survey 2002. A summary report was published in October 2006 shortly after the data became available followed by the main report in November 2007. The Sector Skills Summary Report provides an overview of skills related issues from the NI Skills Monitoring Survey 2005 examined by Sector Skills Council (SSC). Some of this information is already available in the Sector Skills Matrix on both the DEL and Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) internet sites.
2. The principal benefit of this report to DEL is that it provides a valuable insight into employer skill needs as well as a measure of the demand for current skills in each SSC. This report plays an important role in contributing to Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs), which inform employers about the skill needs of their workforce need and how they will be supplied. The data also provides a consistent methodology across all SSCs and therefore some useful comparisons can be made.
3. This research therefore links closely to the Department’s Skills Strategy under the theme “understanding the demand for skills”. It will also be extremely pertinent to the work of the Skills Expert Group, which comprises relevant experts from the public and private sectors. Its role is to advise government on projected requirements and international opportunities for NI and make recommendations on the steps required to meet identified ed need.
4. Summary of Sector Skills Councils:
SCC Name Summary Description
Asset Skills - Property, housing, cleaning services and facilities management.
Automotive Skills - The retail motor industry.
Government Skills - central government i.e. civil service, non-departmental public bodies and armed forces.
Cogent - Chemicals and pharmaceuticals, nuclear, oil and gas, petroleum and polymers.
Construction Skills - Construction.
Creative and Cultural Industries - Advertising, crafts, cultural heritage, design, music, performing, literary and visual arts. e-Skills UK - Information technology and telecommunications and the lead for contact centres on behalf of the Skills for Business network.
Energy and Utility Skills - Electricity, gas, waste management and water industries.
Financial Services Skills Council - Bankers, insurance and accountants.
GoSkills - Passenger transport. Aviation, buses, taxis coaches, community transport, driver training and transport planning.
Improve - Food and drink manufacturing and processing industry sea fishing, craft bakery, meat and poultry, dairy and general food and drink
Lantra - Environmental and land-based industries.
Lifelong Learning UK - Community learning and development, further education, higher education, libraries, archives and information services, work-based learning and development.
People Ist - Hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries.
Proskills - Process and manufacturing in the building products, coatings, glass, printing, extractive and mineral processing industries.
SEMTA - Science, engineering and manufacturing technologies.
Skills for Care - Social care, children, early years and young people’s workforces in the UK.
Skills for Health - The health sector across the UK.
Skills for Justice - Policing and law enforcement, youth justice, custodial care, community justice, courts service, prosecution service and forensic science.
Skills for Logistics - Freight transport by road, storage and warehousing, activities of other transport agencies, courier services, air freight, rail freight, freight inland sea and coastal water transport.
SkillsActive - Sport and recreation, health and fitness, the outdoors, playwork and the caravan industry.
Skillfast-UK - Fashion and textiles.
Skillsmart - Retail.
Skillset - Broadcast, film, video, interactive media and photo imaging.
SummitSkills - Electro technical, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration and plumbing industries.
non-SSC Industries - All other industries.
5. The report is available to download from the Department of Education website
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6. All media queries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office. Tel: 028 9025 7872.
7. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
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