Chancellor pledges to return technical and vocational skills to the heart of the UK’s educational system #SpringStatement
Following the Chancellor’s Spring Statement yesterday where he pledged to return technical and vocational skills to the heart of the UK’s educational system, Mark Shrimpton, UK Director of People and Organisational Development, Civica, a UK headquartered technology firm which employs over 4,500 people globally and takes on many apprentices each year.
“In yesterday’s Spring Statement, the Chancellor stated that the government is committed to returning technical and vocational skills to the heart of our educational system with the roll out of new high-quality apprenticeships. For us, it’s the high-quality part of the statement that matters. After all, it’s not only young individuals that are in need of apprenticeships: employers similarly rely on their employees’ skills and motivation to keep their business growing so they must meet the needs of all.
“One of the biggest challenges facing employers at the moment, and one which apprenticeships can rectify, is a lack of skills. A report commissioned by The Open University found that 90% of UK organisations had struggled to find workers with the right skills in the past 12 months: apprenticeships could provide the much needed solution. The current technological and political climate demands adaptability and flexibility, skills which are not only encouraged but actively developed through apprenticeship schemes.
“But to make these apprenticeships a real success – and boost the investment given by government, organisations should also learn how to best allow apprentices to grow during the course of their schemes. In other words, employers must become more finely attuned to apprentices’ needs and tailor their training accordingly. Apprenticeships, much like other forms of education or work experience, are far from ‘one size fits all’.
“Exposure to real-life work experience and skills training is becoming more and more valuable to employers looking to harness and promote talent growth through these schemes. Just as we have done at Civica, today’s businesses have the opportunity to ‘give back’ to both existing and future employees and develop a highly-skilled workforce for the future by embracing the opportunities that these apprenticeships have to offer.”
Mark Shrimpton, UK Director of People and Organisational Development, Civica
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