In an open letter published in Northern Ireland and GB newspapers today (Thursday), some of the UK’s top business people including Sir Mike Rake, Chairman of BT group and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Sir Stuart Rose, Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer and Chairman of Business in the Community, Mervyn Davies, Chairman of Standard Chartered plc, and Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI, together with Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, urge employers to sustain or even increase their investment in training, saying: “Now is precisely the time to keep investing in the skills and talents of our people. It is the people we employ who will get us through. When markets are shrinking and order books falling, it is their commitment, productivity and ability to add value that will keep us competitive. Investing now in building new skills will put us in the strongest position as the economy recovers.”
Sir Mike Rake, chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, which organised the advertisement, said: “We want businesses to commit to skills and training in order to support the strongest possible recovery for businesses from the current financial challenges. When times get tough, it is the talent of our people, their innovation, creativity and tenacity that make the difference between survival and failure.
The Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey, strongly endorsed this call from business and trade unions. He said: “I fully support this initiative being shown by key business leaders and trade unions to call collectively for employers to maintain their commitment to training their staff as we go through these difficult times. If employers continue to develop their people now they will reap the benefits when we emerge into a better economic climate.”
Chris Humphries CBE, Chief Executive of the UK Commission, said: “The UK Commission is working closely with the Department for Employment and Learning to put employer needs at the heart of the skills system and to offer expert advice on the funding and the training support solutions best suited to their long-term business and workforce needs. This call today emphasises what an important role training and development can play in putting businesses in the best possible position for recovery.”
Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC added: “When times are tough, employers can sometimes see training as expensive and expendable. But research in 2007* shows that firms who don’t train are two and a half times more likely to fail than those who do. Our message is; it’s vital to keep investing in the skills of your workforce if you want to bounce back.”
Notes to Editors:
The open letter to employers will appear in the Belfast Telegraph and The Herald together with the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Guardian and the Daily Mail on Thursday 23 October. Its signatories are:
- Sir Michael Rake, Chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and BT group plc;
- Mervyn Davies CBE, Chairman of Standard Chartered;
- Richard Lambert, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry;
- Sir Stuart Rose, Chairman of Business in the Community and Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer;
*Training and Establishment Survival, SSDA, March 2007, found that more in one in four non-training establishments (27%) closed for business over the 1998-2004 period, while only about one in nine training establishments (11%) closed down. Copies of the full report are available on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills website
