New skills monitor report will ‘take the pulse’ on Scottish employer issues
A report designed to “take the pulse” on a quarterly basis of employers across Scotland on a range of issues has been unveiled by the country’s Alliance of Sector Skills Councils.
Its first edition has pointed to a degree of optimism about the next three months, although employers expect redundancies to increase.
There is also strong support for work-based learning and businesses are keen to improve the work readiness of colleges and university leavers. However, they also feel more help is needed with workforce skills to help them through the current downturn.
Jacqui Hepburn, director of the Alliance of Sector Skills, Scotland, says: “This report is very interesting, as we have done quite a bit of research recently on how Scottish businesses are coping in the current economic climate and what the most important issues for businesses currently are.
“This report appears to confirm much of what we have previously found, and that is; business are seeing signs of recovery but are still behaving cautiously, re-skilling and up-skilling of current workforce is incredibly important and is playing a vital part in businesses’ recovery, and there is a need to look at improving skills issues such as Apprenticeships and work readiness of graduates.
“However, what it also shows is that the long term forecast for Scottish business is a much brighter one than many are currently predicting.”
(Pictured: John McNamara, chief executive of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils)
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