Employee demand study
For a core group of the UK’s employees, post-compulsory learning and skill development is not part of their life story. The Employee Demand project sought to understand why many employed people do not engage in learning and to explore the policy implications of this evidence.
There were two outputs from this project:
- A review of evidence and policy (PDF, 3.3 Mb) – this report presents the results of a detailed review of evidence and policy relating to the factors that influence the engagement of the individual in skills development. It incorporates a broad range of formal and informal learning activities, delivered in a range of institutional settings and through different media, including work-based, classroom-based, distance learning and community based learning.
The review is deliberately broad in its focus, drawing on evidence and policy relating to people in different positions within the labour market – in or out of work, new entrants into employment, younger and older workers, people with and without qualifications and/or with higher and lower skills. However, a key focus for the research was the barriers and factors affecting access to skills development opportunities among lower skilled and lower qualified people. The review was undertaken by WM Enterprise and the Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UK Commission).
The evidence review comprised an overview of the available statistical data for the UK and – where available – constituent countries, and a review of studies that have examined the factors that appear to influence the individual’s decision as to whether to undertake skills development activities. Building on this evidence review, the research team brought together the findings of studies that have evaluated the impact on individual participation in skills development of a range of policies that have been implemented in the UK and/or constituent countries from 1998 onwards. A limited international policy review was also undertaken, focused on six countries identified in consultation with expert commentators.
- A Praxis paper – An appetite for learning (PDF, 131 Kb) . Raising the skill levels of the UK economy depends to some extent on individuals being prepared to invest in their own skill development, as well as expressing to employers and others their demand for formal and informal training.
The chances of an individual actively seeking to increase their skills level depends, research suggests, on a number of ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ factors. People with few qualifications, those who are not employed or who work in smaller or non-unionised workplaces tend to be less likely than others to engage in, or demand, skills development.
Research highlights a number of barriers to the take-up of skills development that are experienced by different groups of people. These include financial constraints; limited access to information, advice or guidance; negative influence from family or peers and in some cases negative early experiences of education or training. For those in work, the attitudes and practices of their employers can play an important role in stimulating or inhibiting skills development.
This paper outlines a broad policy framework around which initiatives designed to increase individual investment in skills development might be built and be particularly targeted at those least likely to participate in skills development.
For those with limited experience of skills development, focused support coupled with flexible provision and appropriate financial incentives appear to be the most fruitful way forward. For people who are in work, a combination of workplace advocacy (in the form of Union Learning Representatives or similar) and employer willingness to provide at least part of the time or resources required should lead to a significant increase in individual demand for skills development.
Underpinning these policy initiatives there is also a need for something more: a pervasive culture of learning which means that people from across all sections of UK society see learning as an ongoing part of their lives, rather than something that ends with compulsory education
