UKCES

Maximising individual opportunity for skills and sustainable employment.

Current situation

The UK has unacceptably large numbers of adults with no or low skills. Many of these individuals lack the basic literacy and numeracy skills necessary to obtain meaningful work or succeed in training. These people are most likely to experience prolonged unemployment or inactivity as the recession deepens, particularly in areas with existing high rates of joblessness.

The majority of employer training is designed for higher skilled employees. Low skilled workers are less likely to benefit from on-the-job training and are far less likely to invest in their own development. They will be particularly vulnerable if their organisations experience redundancies.

The recession must be used as an opportunity to invest in raising the UK skills base. This should start with ensuring that all young people, long-term inactive or unemployed, and recently redundant workers, have access to the employability and technical skills to (re-)engage rapidly in productive work and are equipped with skills for success in the new economy that will emerge post recession.

We have supported and welcomed the initiatives over the last two years to put in place joint programmes designed to skill people for jobs through better collaboration between Jobcentre Plus and national skills services.

Necessary actions

To achieve these outcomes the UK Commission will:

• Prove and promote the benefits of learning to individuals of all ages, encourage more personal responsibility for lifelong learning, and advise on measures to raise individuals’ aspiration for higher skills and better jobs
• Identify key barriers to employment and skills for individuals, and recommend ways of increasing individual demand for, and access to, skills and participation in work-related learning
• Undertake work to identify the most promising models for integrating employment and skills for people in/at risk of social exclusion - to offer them the skills and qualifications they need to come out of recession with employment opportunities
• Organise and encourage the use of learner customer journey and satisfaction studies to inform system simplification and improvements, and promote the integration of employment and skills services
• Recommend policies, good practice and other implementation measures to embed employability skills in all pre- and post-compulsory education and skills provision
• Support the development of a flexible and modular qualification system that supports learners of all ages to build their knowledge and skills for rewarding work, progression and development throughout life
• Encourage more effective careers information, advice and guidance to enable all individuals in schools and throughout their working lives to make informed choices about work and further development
• Identify and promote international best practice in employee engagement strategies in employers, and support the growth in high performance workplaces in the UK
• Promote public recognition of excellence in individual performance through celebrations, competitions and awards.