Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work
The impact of the 2008-09 recession period on work related training is explored by a leading team of researchers from Cardiff University and the ESRC Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES), Institute of Education. The quantitative and qualitative evidence presented in this report indicates that the recession has not been as severe as many had feared. It appears to have done little to change the UK’s training activity as measured by its incidence, intensity and quality. However, the gradual decline in training, in both private and public sectors, has continued over the last decade.
Evidence Report 72: Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work (PDF, 1.3 Mb)
Executive Summary
(PDF, 274 Kb)
Published: September 2013
After almost 16 years of continual Gross Domestic Product growth, the UK economy entered its deepest post-war recession in the second quarter of 2008. This research explores how the 2008-09 recession period has affected work related training activity, in terms of its incidence, intensity and quality. Whilst the recession’s impact on unemployment levels, vacancies, claimant counts and redundancies has seen frequent analysis, the effect training has received relatively less attention.
Using a combination of desk research, statistical analyses of large-scale employer and individual level surveys, and depth telephone interviews with over 100 private and public sector employers, this report addresses the effect of the recession on training by examining:
- How the 2008-09 recession has affected training activity in the UK – in terms of its incidence, intensity and quality.
- What explains the diversity of employers’ training responses.
- How the nature of training activity has changed.
- How the pattern of these responses compares with responses given during the last recession in the UK in 1991-92.
Conducted by an eminent research team, who have previously analysed and reported on training activity during the 1990-91 recession, this project is one of a number of dedicated joint activities run by the UK Commission, in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of a Strategic Partnership programme. These activities build on the core work of the UK Commission and the ESRC to add value to the evidence base around skills and employment. Key findings include:
- The 2008-09 recession appears to have done little to change the UK’s training activity as measured by its incidence, intensity and its quality. Its impact was not as severe as many had feared. But whilst the recession appears to have had little effect, the gradual decline in training, over the last decade, continues.
- Contrary to the starting assumption of a deregulated training market, the research shows that employers do not have a completely free hand and that a combination of market regulation and business requirements obliged most of them to sustain training despite the impact of the recession.
- Some employers have cut back on training more than others as a result of the 2008-09 recession. These tend to be operating in price competitive product markets, but many others have not changed the volume of training they deliver at all.
- The recession has prompted many employers to find innovative ways of maintaining training coverage to meet these obligations (such as compliance with legal requirements, meeting operational needs and satisfying customer demands) by ‘training smarter’.
Two interim reports, exploring initial findings of the impact of the 2008-09 recession period are also available.
First interim report (PDF, 540 Kb) from February 2010 to September 2010
Second interim report (PDF, 745 Kb) from October 2010 to October 2011
