Employer Engagement Must Become a Growth Function for Higher Education

Employer engagement has become one of the most talked-about priorities in further education. Colleges are building employer networks, hosting business events, establishing advisory boards and strengthening links with industry in ways that would have been far less common a decade ago.

Yet despite this activity, many colleges continue to face familiar challenges. Apprenticeship numbers remain under pressure, securing sufficient T Level placements can be difficult and employers still report skills shortages. At the same time, colleges are increasingly expected to demonstrate their contribution to local economic growth and workforce development.

For too long, employer engagement has been treated primarily as a relationship-building function. Success has often been measured by the number of employer meetings held, networking events attended, or businesses added to a contact database. Relationships matter, but they are only valuable if they lead to an effective outcome.

Employer engagement should be viewed as a growth function, directly linked to apprenticeship starts, T Level placements, workforce development opportunities and stronger employment for learners and the evidence supporting this shift is difficult to ignore.

According to the Department for Education’s Employer Skills Survey 2024, 15% of UK employers reported skills gap vacancies, while 19% said parts of their workforce lacked full proficiency in their current roles. The findings paint a clear picture of a labour market that continues to struggle with skills shortages despite significant investment in training and development. For colleges, this presents a significant opportunity.

Employer engagement teams are often the first people to hear about recruitment challenges, skills gaps and future workforce requirements. They are uniquely positioned to gather intelligence that can influence curriculum design, identify opportunities for commercial training and strengthen alignment between education provision and labour market demand.

However, that only happens when employer engagement is measured by what it creates, as opposed to how busy it appears to be.

One conversation with an employer that results in ten apprenticeships, is arguably more valuable than twenty networking meetings that lead to none. The introduction of T Levels has reinforced this reality.

Every T Level student is required to complete an industry placement as part of their qualification. Department for Education guidance states that these placements must comprise a minimum of 315 hours of meaningful workplace experience. For colleges, that means employer engagement is no longer simply about maintaining good relationships with local businesses, so it has become fundamental to programme delivery.

The colleges making progress in this area tend to focus on outcomes rather than activity. They understand which employers consistently offer placements, which sectors present the strongest opportunities for growth and how employer relationships can evolve into long-term partnerships that benefit both learners and businesses.

The same principle applies to apprenticeships, with each one starting with an employer, who is willing to invest in skills development. Yet many colleges measure engagement by counting contacts – rather than tracking how many employer interactions convert into apprenticeships which is a missed opportunity.

Employer engagement teams should be viewed in much the same way as business development teams. Their role isn’t only to build relationships, but to generate outcomes that support the college’s wider objectives.

The outcomes might include apprenticeship starts, T Level placements, employer-funded training, curriculum collaboration or graduate employment opportunities; and all of these have a measurable impact.

Research underpinning the Gatsby Benchmarks has consistently demonstrated the value of meaningful encounters between young people and employers. The Gatsby Foundation found that students who experience multiple high-quality interactions with employers are better able to understand career pathways, develop workplace awareness and make informed decisions about their futures.

This is an important distinction as it defines the importance of meaningful engagement versus volume, which are different things entirely.

A single employer who provides placements, mentors students, supports curriculum development and recruits’ apprentices, contributes significantly more value than an employer who attends a careers event once a year and has no further involvement.

This becomes even more important as colleges respond to local skills improvement plans and growing expectations around regional economic impact. Employers want education providers that understand their workforce challenges. Learners want clear routes into employment. Communities need colleges that contribute to local economic growth with employer engagement sitting at the centre of all three.

The measures that matter are apprenticeship starts, T Level placements secured, employer-funded training opportunities, repeat employer partnerships and learner progression into employment. These are the indicators that demonstrate whether employer engagement is creating genuine value and creating outcomes. Relationships will always remain the foundation of successful employer engagement.

By Adam Herbert, CEO, Go Live Data