Government 'must recognise staff skills'

Meeting

Published On 24 April 2007 at 09:01:10

The government should reform the qualification framework to recognise valuable skills that UK workers gain from working for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), an industry group has said.

According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), many UK workers receive excellent training on-the-job, but these valuable skills are never recognised in any formal way.

British businesses - including many SMEs - spent £33 billion on staff training last year, but only 40 per cent of UK workers have a formal qualification such as an NVQ. In comparison, 57 per cent of workers in the US and 63 per cent of German workers have similar qualifications.

However, the CBI says that UK workers are every bit as skilled as those in other countries; it is simply that the primary focus of employers is on developing their staff's abilities, rather than seeking formal qualifications.

UK workers are wrongly branded as laggards in the skills stakes even though employers are spending more on training than in the rest of the EU, the US and Japan," said John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI.

"The qualifications framework must give official recognition to the training provided in many firms and ensure that the skills of UK employees are accurately reflected."

 

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