UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2013
Source: data.gov.uk (2014-12-09)

The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey (UKCESS) is the largest of its kind in the world. It gives a comprehensive and robust picture of skills needs and training investment in UK business. Topics covered in the survey include training and staff development, vacancies and skills shortages, employee skill gaps and the recruitment of education leavers.

The UKCESS 2013 is the most recent survey in the series, and the second UK-wide employer skills survey. The results provide a comprehensive source of data for users:

• Employers can identify how they compare to their sector in their provision of training or own experience of skill deficiency and identify key challenges and opportunities for their sector;

• Individuals and careers advisers can identify sectors and occupations experiencing particular shortages;

• Providers of training and development can use the results to help shape provision to need in their locality or their specialist areas.

The first survey published in this series is the UKCESS 2011, available at: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ukces-employer-skills-survey . Please note that in order to compare 2011 to 2013 results; the data tables comparable with UKCES Evidence Report No. 81 should be used due to a change in sampling strategy (for more details please see the 2013 Technical Report, available as an 'Additional Link' below).

Evidence Report 81
January 2014
UK Commission’s 
Employer Skills Survey 
2013: UK Results

Header title here… 
The UK Commission’s  
Employer Skills Survey 2013: UK 
Results 
 
 
 
 
 
Winterbotham M., Vivian D., Shury J. and Davies B. 
IFF Research 
 
Genna Kik 
Senior Research Manager 
UK Commission for Employment and Skills 
 
 
 
 
 
January 2014 

 
2 
 
Foreword 
Employers in the UK today face many challenges, including on-going globalisation, 
technological change and changing consumer demands. After one of the harshest economic 
crises seen for a generation, UK productivity is still below the levels seen before the 
recession. Looking to the future, if we are to achieve sustained economic growth and global 
competitiveness, investment in the skills and talents of the UK workforce will be crucial.  
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey gives us reliable, timely and valuable insight 
into the skills issues being faced by employers and the action they are taking to address 
these. The survey provides a wealth of data on these issues and, for the first time, we can 
investigate change over time on a consistent basis right across the UK labour market. The 
Commission is very grateful to the more than 91,000 businesses, across all sectors, who 
participated in the research.  
So what do to findings tell us about how employers are behaving? In support of the 
economic turnaround, the survey highlights some positive trends. However, it also identifies 
some clear priorities for action. 
Today too many organisations find it hard to recruit the skilled people they need; this poses 
serious risks to the health and survival of businesses and to their bottom line performance. 
The survey reveals a sharp rise in skills shortages which may be holding back the UK’s 
economic recovery. This is not a new phenomenon. Such deficiencies have persisted over 
time in some sectors and occupations indicating that there is a need to take decisive action.  
At the same time as a growing shortage of certain skills there is also evidence of a surplus 
and mismatch in other areas, with the survey finding that almost half of employers report 
having staff with skills and qualifications beyond those required for their current job. There 
are also indications of pressures on skills investment. For example, the amount spent on 
training has fallen by £2.5 billion since 2011. The survey also questions whether UK 
employers are being ambitious enough when it comes to both investing in their people and 
their broader business strategies.  
At the UK Commission for Employment and Skills we will continue to work with and through 
our partners to develop solutions to the skills challenges highlighted in this survey. As a 
social partnership led by Commissioners from large and small employers, trade unions and 
the voluntary sector, our aim is to improve the future of workforce skills in the UK by 
providing access to investment, world-class research and expert insight.  

 
3 
 
I hope you find this report useful. It will be followed by evidence toolkits for each of the 
nations of the UK and local partners, as well as thematic reports exploring key issues within 
the survey.  
We are keen to make the data and analysis in this report as accessible as possible and to 
assist with its interpretation in the commentary provided. We would also welcome feedback 
on how we could make our research even more relevant. If you have any queries or 
comments on this report, or would just like to know more about the Commission’s work, 
please e-mail xxx@xxx.xx, quoting the report title. 
 
Sir Charlie Mayfield, 
Chairman, John Lewis Partnership  
Chair, UK Commission for Employment and Skills 
 
 

 
4 
 
Acknowledgements 
Many individuals and organisations have been involved in the design and execution of the 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013. Particular thanks are given to the 91,000 
businesses who responded to the questionnaire. As the lead contractor, we have been 
supported by the research agencies who conducted much of the fieldwork: BMG Research, 
GfK-NOP and Ipsos MORI.  
The project was supported by the four UK governments; a steering group was established to 
guide the direction of the project. Members attending this group were: Robin Elliot-Marshall, 
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS); Dominic Rice, BIS; Vikki McCauley, 
BIS; Kate Murphy, BIS; Stuart King, Scottish Government; Joanne Corke, Welsh 
Government; James Carey, Welsh Government; Victor Dukelow; Department for 
Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI); Graham Belshaw, DELNI; Tracy 
Power, DELNI; Alastair Yeo, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); Lewis Childs, 
DWP; Kate Lager, DWP; Ella Taylor, DWP; Anthony Clarke, Department for Education 
(DFE); Stuart Vickers, Skills Funding Agency; Carol Stanfield, UK Commission for 
Employment and Skills (UKCES); and Vicki Belt, UKCES.  
Particular thanks are also due to staff at the UK Commission who supported the preparation 
of this report, including Vicki Belt, Rebecca Jones, Thomas Glynn, Charlotte McDonough, 
Angela Thompson, Marc Bayliss, and in particular to the project manager throughout the 
course of the survey, Genna Kik at the UK Commission.  
Jan Shury  
Joint Managing Director, IFF Research Ltd. 
 
 
 

 
Table of Contents 
Glossary ................................................................................................................ 6 
Key findings ......................................................................................................... 8 
Executive Summary ............................................................................................. 9 
1 
Introduction ................................................................................................ 15 
1.1 
The UK-wide employer skills survey ................................................................... 15 
1.2 
Methodological overview ...................................................................................... 16 
1.2.1 
Survey sampling .................................................................................................... 16 
1.2.2 
Survey questionnaire ............................................................................................ 17 
1.2.3 
Survey fieldwork .................................................................................................... 17 
1.2.4 
Data weighting ....................................................................................................... 18 
1.3 
The nature of UK establishments: describing the survey population ............. 18 
1.4 
Structure of this report .......................................................................................... 21 
1.5 
Reporting conventions .......................................................................................... 22 
2 
Employers’ Experience of Skill Shortages .............................................. 23 
2.1 
Chapter Summary .................................................................................................. 23 
2.2 
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 24 
2.3 
Vacancies ............................................................................................................... 25 
2.4 
Skill-shortage vacancies ....................................................................................... 27 
2.4.1 
The incidence, volume and density of skill-shortage vacancies ...................... 27 
2.4.2 
Skills lacking in the available labour market ...................................................... 31 
2.4.3 
The impact of skill-shortage vacancies on employers ...................................... 33 
2.5 
Wider recruitment challenges and hard-to-fill vacancies .................................. 34 
2.6 
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 35 
3 
The Internal Skills Challenge .................................................................... 36 
3.1 
Summary ................................................................................................................. 36 
3.2 
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 37 
3.2.1 
The prevalence of skills gaps ............................................................................... 38 
3.2.2 
The occupational distribution of skills gaps ...................................................... 40 
3.3 
The causes of skills gaps ..................................................................................... 43 
3.4 
Skills lacking internally ......................................................................................... 44 
3.5 
The impact of skills gaps ...................................................................................... 46 
3.6 
Employer response to skills gaps ........................................................................ 47 
3.7 
Skills deficiencies among existing staff and when recruiting .......................... 49 

 
2 
3.8 
Under-use of skills ................................................................................................. 49 
3.8.1 
The prevalence of under-use of skills ................................................................. 49 
3.9 
Upskilling ................................................................................................................ 51 
3.9.1 
The prevalence of upskilling needs ..................................................................... 51 
3.9.2 
Occupations most affected by the need for upskilling ...................................... 53 
3.9.3 
Upskilling: skills that need improving or updating ............................................ 54 
3.10 
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 55 
4 
Training and Workforce Development ..................................................... 56 
4.1 
Summary ................................................................................................................. 56 
4.2 
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 57 
4.3 
Incidence of training and workforce development ............................................. 57 
4.4 
Other wider activity to aid the development of staff .......................................... 59 
4.5 
Barriers and limits on training .............................................................................. 60 
4.6 
Types of training provided .................................................................................... 63 
4.7 
Numbers trained .................................................................................................... 64 
4.8 
Training days .......................................................................................................... 66 
4.9 
Training to qualifications ...................................................................................... 69 
4.10 
Investment in Training .......................................................................................... 71 
4.11 
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 76 
5 
Recruitment of Young People .................................................................. 78 
5.1 
Summary ................................................................................................................. 78 
5.2 
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 79 
5.3 
Recruitment of education leavers ........................................................................ 81 
5.3.1 
Recruitment from different stages of education ................................................ 82 
5.4 
Perceived work readiness of education leavers ................................................. 85 
5.5 
Skills and attributes lacking in education leavers ............................................. 88 
5.6 
Recruitment of young people ............................................................................... 89 
5.7 
Barriers to recruiting young people..................................................................... 90 
5.8 
Skills deficiencies and training among employers who recruit young 
people 92 
5.9 
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 93 
6 
High Performance Working Practices and Product Market Strategies . 95 
6.1 
Chapter Summary .................................................................................................. 95 
6.2 
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 96 
6.3 
High Performance Working .................................................................................. 96 
6.3.1 
The relationship between HPW and skills shortages ........................................ 98 
6.3.2 
The relationship between HPW and skills gaps ................................................. 99 

 
3 
6.3.3 
The relationship between HPW and training .................................................... 100 
6.4 
Product market strategies .................................................................................. 100 
6.4.1 
Deriving a composite Product Market Index ..................................................... 102 
6.4.2 
Profiling higher and lower composite PMS score employers ......................... 103 
6.4.3 
Relationship between PMS and skills shortages ............................................. 104 
6.4.4 
The relationship between PMS and skills gaps ................................................ 106 
6.4.5 
The relationship between PMS and training ..................................................... 107 
6.5 
Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 108 
7 
Conclusions ............................................................................................. 110 
Annex A: Supplementary Tables .................................................................... 114 
Annex B: National Time Series Tables ........................................................... 167 
Annex C: Industry Coding ............................................................................... 172 
Annex D: Occupational Coding ...................................................................... 176 
Annex E: Sampling Error and Statistical Confidence ................................... 177 
Annex F:  Weighted Base Sizes ...................................................................... 179 
Annex G:  Unweighted Base Sizes ................................................................. 180 
Annex H: A Note on Proficiency and Skills Gaps……………………………..181 
Annex I: Technical Appendix .......................................................................... 182 
Employer Skills Survey: Wave 1 ...................................................................................... 182 
Employer Skills Survey: Investment in Training follow-up .......................................... 185 
Annex J: Effect of the 2+ Employment Reweight on 2011 Data ................... 187 
Annex K: Bibliography .................................................................................... 189 
Annex L: List of Previous Publications………………………………………….190 

 
4 
 
Table of Graphs and Charts 
Table 1.1 Survey response rates ................................................................................................. 18 
Figure 1.1  Headline information on the profile of UK establishments and employment ...... 20 
Table 2.1  Incidence and density of vacancies by country ....................................................... 26 
Table 2.2  Incidence and density of skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs) by country .................. 27 
Figure 2.1  Density and number of skill-shortage vacancies by occupation (2011 vs 2013) 29 
Figure 2.2  Density of skill-shortage vacancies – occupation, occupation within sector, and 
by sector……………… ................................................................................................................... 30 
Figure 2.3  Skills lacking among applicants (prompted) ......................................................... 322 
Figure 2.4  Impact of skill-shortage vacancies (prompted) ...................................................... 34 
Table 3.1: Incidence, number and density of skills gaps by country (2011 vs. 2013) ............ 39 
Table 3.2:  Number and density of skills gaps by occupation (2011 vs. 2013) ....................... 40 
Figure 3.1  Density of skills gaps by sector, occupation and occupation within sector ....... 42 
Table 3.3:  Main causes of skills gaps (prompted), by nation .................................................. 44 
Table 3.4  Skills lacking among staff with skills gaps followed up, by nation ........................ 45 
Table 3.5  
Impact of skills gaps (prompted), by nation ....................................................... 47 
Figure 3.2:  Actions taken to overcome skills gaps (prompted) .............................................. 48 
Table 3.6  Incidence, number and density of staff who are both over-qualified and over-
skilled by country (2011 vs. 2013) ............................................................................................... 50 
Table 3.7: Whether expect employees will need to acquire new skills or knowledge in the 
next 12 months, and the reasons for this (prompted), by country .......................................... 52 
Figure 3.3  Single occupation most affected by the need for upskilling ................................. 53 
Figure 3.4  Skills which need improving or updating in the next 12 months (prompted) ...... 54 
Figure 4.1  Training provision over the last 12 months............................................................. 58 
Figure 4.2: Employer interest in undertaking more training over the last 12 months than 
they were able to provide ............................................................................................................. 62 
Figure 4.3  Types of training provided over the last 12 months by employers that train 
(prompted)…. .................................................................................................................... ………..63 
Table 4.1  Number of staff trained over the last 12 months and the proportion of staff 
trained by establishment size and country ................................................................................ 65 
Figure 4.4  Proportion of staff trained over the last 12 months by occupation 2013 vs. 
2011………….. ................................................................................................................................ 66 
Table 4.2  Total training and development days, and days per person trained and per 
employee (2011 vs. 2013) ............................................................................................................. 68 
Table 4.3  Training to nationally recognised qualifications over the previous 12 months .... 70 
Table 4.4  Total training expenditure and spend per person trained and per employee (2011 
vs. 2013)……… ............................................................................................................................... 72 
Table 4.5  Total training expenditure broken down by individual components (2011 vs. 
2013)………… ................................................................................................................................. 74 
Table 4.6: Training expenditure by country and size, the proportion spent on off-the-job 
elements, and the breakdown of total training expenditure (both on-the-job and off-the-job) 
by key elements ............................................................................................................................. 75 
Figure 5.1  Employer recruitment of young people - summary ................................................ 80 

 
5 
Table 5.1  Incidence of recruitment of education leavers into their first jobs by country 
(2011 vs. 2013) ............................................................................................................................... 82 
Figure 5.2  Incidence of recruitment in the last 2-3 years of education leavers into their first 
jobs by size of establishment ...................................................................................................... 83 
Table 5.2  Sector patterns of recruitment of education leavers ............................................... 84 
Figure 5.3  Work-readiness of those recruited straight from education ................................. 86 
Table 5.3  Skills and attributes lacking in education leavers ................................................... 88 
Figure 5.4  Reasons why some recruiting employers do not recruit young people .............. 90 
Table 5.4  Skills deficiencies and training activity among employers who recruit young 
people and education leavers ...................................................................................................... 92 
Figure 6.1  Employer adoption of High Performance Working Practices................................ 97 
Figure 6.2  Incidence and density of vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage 
vacancies by HPW classification and size ................................................................................. 99 
Table 6.1  Incidence, volume and density of skills gaps by HPW classification .................... 99 
Figure 6.3  Product Market Strategy positions ......................................................................... 101 
Table 6.2  Overall composite Product Market Strategy scores .............................................. 102 
Table 6.3  Overall composite Product Market Strategy scores by size ................................. 103 
Figure 6.4  Incidence of vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies by 
Product Market Strategy classification ..................................................................................... 104 
Figure 6.5  Proportion of all vacancies that were hard-to-fill and that were skill-shortage 
vacancies by Product Market Strategy classification ............................................................. 105 
Table 6.4  Incidence, volume and density of skills gaps by Product Market Strategy 
classification ……………………………………………………………………………………………106 
Table 6.5  Main causes of skills gaps (prompted), by Product Market Strategy................... 107 
Figure 6.6  Incidence of training by Product Market Strategy classification ........................ 108 

 
6 
Glossary 
This glossary gives a short guide to the key terms used in this report:  
 
Establishment (also 
referred to as 
workplace, business, 
employer, site) 
A single location of an organisation with people 
working at it.  
Vacancy density 
The number of vacancies as a proportion of all 
employment. 
Hard-to-fill vacancies 
Vacancies which are proving difficult to fill, as 
defined by the establishment (from question: “Are  
any of these vacancies proving hard-to-fill?”). 
Hard-to-fill vacancy 
density 
The number of hard-to-fill vacancies as a proportion 
of all vacancies. 
Skill-shortage 
vacancies (SSVs) 
Vacancies which are proving difficult to fill due to 
the establishment not being able to find applicants 
with the appropriate skills, qualifications or 
experience. 
Skill-shortage vacancy 
density 
The number of skill-shortage vacancies as a 
proportion of all vacancies 
Skills gaps 
A “skills gap” is where an employee is not fully 
proficient, i.e. is not able to do their job to the 
required level. See Annex H. 

 
7 
 
Skills gap density 
 
The number of staff reported as being not fully 
proficient as a proportion of all employment. 
Under-use of skills 
An employee is “under-used” if the employer reports 
they have both more skills and more qualifications 
than are required to perform the job role they are 
currently in. 
Upskilling 
A need for employees to gain new skills, beyond the 
requirements of their current job role, in order to 
perform their role in future. 
Product Market 
Strategy (PMS)  
An establishment’s PMS score is worked out from 
the combined answers of four questions: 
 
How customised their output is; 
 
How price dependent their offering is; 
 
How innovative the establishment is; 
 
Whether outputs are premium or basic quality. 
A high PMS score would indicate outputs are 
customised, not price-dependent, premium quality 
and the establishment often leads the way in 
product development. 
Level 4 and above 
qualifications 
Qualifications at or above Level 4 on the National 
Qualifications Framework. Includes HNDs, HNCs, 
foundation degrees and degrees, postgraduate 
degrees, and some vocational and professional 
qualifications. 
  
Sector 
For definitions of the different sector groupings used 
in this report please refer to Annex C. 
Occupations 
For definitions of the occupational groups used in 
this report please refer to Annex D. 
  
 
 

 
8 
Key findings 
 
UKCESS 2011 
UKCESS 2013 
Vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies 
  
  
% of establishments with any vacancies 
14% 
15% 
% of establishments with any hard-to-fill vacancies 
4% 
5% 
% with SSVs 
3% 
4% 
% of all vacancies which are SSVs 
16% 
22% 
Number of vacancies 
586,500 
655,000 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
91,400 
146,200 
Skills gaps 
 
 
% of establishments with any staff not fully proficient 
17% 
15% 
Number of skills gaps 
1,485,500 
1,409,900 
Number of staff not fully proficient as a % of employment 
6% 
5% 
Training 
 
 
% of establishments training staff over the last 12 months 
65% 
66% 
% of establishments providing off-the-job training in the 
last 12 months 
47% 
49% 
% of workforce trained 
55% 
62% 
Total days training 
115m 
113m 
Total training expenditure 
£45.3bn 
£42.9bn 
Vacancies, skill-shortage vacancies and skills gaps rounded to the nearest 100. 
2011 data has been reweighted to be comparable to 2013 data.  For details see Annex J of this report, and 
the Technical Report that accompanies this volume. 
 
 
 

 
9 
Executive Summary 
Executive Summary 
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey is the definitive source of intelligence on 
employer investment in skills in the UK. The survey was first conducted at UK wide level 
in 2011, developing from a series of legacy surveys conducted in each of the countries of 
the UK during the 1990s and the 2000s. The 2013 survey represents the second edition 
in the combined UK series. It explores the skills challenges that employers face both 
within their existing workforces and in terms of bringing in new skilled labour, the levels 
and nature of training investment, recruitment of young people and education leavers and 
the relationship between skills challenges, training activity and business strategy. 
Like its predecessor, the study reports on the experiences of employers at the 
establishment level, rather than at the enterprise level. Sole traders and establishments 
with just one employee and no working proprietors were excluded from the survey 
population. 
The survey constitutes a powerful data source: this report presents an initial cut of 
findings. Accompanying the report are also data tabulations and a data file which can be 
found here: www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey . Further reports looking at 
the survey in more depth from different perspectives will follow throughout 2014. 
Skill shortages 
The survey supports a picture of a UK economy which is moving towards recovery. 
The number of employers reporting vacancies at the time of the survey (March to July 
2013) was higher than at the equivalent time in 2011 (up from 14 per cent to 15 per cent), 
as was the number of vacancies that they reported (655,000 in 2013, a rise of 12% from 
2011).  
Within England vacancies are back to pre-recession levels, employers reported a total of 
559,600 job vacancies, a rise of 45% per cent from 2009.   
While the more recent macroeconomic data are more encouraging, signs of recovery 
were less clear in Northern Ireland, where the proportion of employers reporting 
vacancies has remained consistently behind the UK average (and unchanged at ten per 
cent in 2011 and 2013).  

 
10 
Economic growth and recovery may be constrained by skill shortages as the 
labour market responds to employer requirements. While in most cases demand for 
skills is met through successful recruitment, almost three in ten vacancies are reported to 
be hard-to-fill, and shortages in suitably skilled, qualified and/or experienced workers are 
the main reason for this. Overall, such skill-shortage vacancies represent more than one 
in five of all vacancies (22 per cent), up from one in six in 2011 (16 per cent).  
The picture of skill shortages across the UK varies by country as does the change 
in available skills since 2011. The largest shortfall is reported in Scotland where a 
quarter of all vacancies are hard-to-fill because of a shortage in available skills, up from 
15 per cent in 2011. Within England, the longer time series available shows the number 
of skill-shortages has nearly doubled since 2009, increasing from 63,100 to 124,800.   
Skill shortages differ by occupation and pockets of shortages remain largely 
unchanged since 2011. Skilled Trades roles remain the most common occupation 
where skill shortages are likely to be encountered when employers recruit for these roles. 
In 2011, managerial roles were the next most challenged by shortages in available skills; 
since then, the challenge has shifted towards Professionals, Associate Professionals, 
Caring, Leisure and Other services staff and Machine Operatives. 
There appears to have been an increased difficulty finding appropriate oral and written 
communication, literacy and numeracy skills. These core generic skills were all cited as 
lacking by greater proportions of employers reporting skill-shortage vacancies than in 
2011. 
Skill gaps 
Most employers report that they have a proficient workforce with no skill gaps: 15 
per cent report that some of their staff are not fully proficient, and these skills gaps 
represent only one in 20 employees (five per cent). This represents a slight fall in the 
proportion of workplaces with proficiency challenges since 2011 (when the figures stood 
at 17 per cent), but a broadly consistent picture in terms of the proportion of the workforce 
which is affected. 
A larger proportion of employers face skills gaps in Scotland (19 per cent) than elsewhere 
in the UK, although this figure has fallen since 2011 when it stood at 21 per cent. 
Proficiency problems affect a slightly larger proportion of employees in Northern Ireland, 
Scotland and Wales than in 2011; in England a smaller proportion of the workforce has 
skills gaps than was the case in 2011, and skills gaps are now at their lowest level in a 
decade.  

 
11 
In most cases (three-quarters of all skills gaps), proficiency problems are due at 
least in part to employees being new in their roles and/or still in training for their 
roles. These factors are both (predominantly) transient: that is to say one would expect 
skills gaps resulting from these causes to be eliminated once staff have settled into their 
new roles and/or existing training has been completed. 
Job roles where (internal) skills gaps are most prominent tend to be ones in which there 
are relatively few (external) skill shortages. The occupations where skills gaps are most 
acute are Sales and Customer Services staff and Elementary staff, which are two of the 
occupations with the lowest density of skill shortages (alongside Administration roles). 
Conversely, the occupations in which skill shortages were the most acute, Associate 
Professionals and Machine Operatives, present average levels of skills gaps, while skills 
gaps are relatively uncommon among Professional and Caring, Leisure and Other 
Services staff. In the eyes of employers, skills gaps affect Managers less than other 
occupations. 
Employers tend to be challenged either in terms of having inadequate skills among some 
of their existing workforce or struggling to find new recruits with the skills that the vacant 
positions require. It is very rare for employers to be challenged from both directions; just 
one per cent of all employers experienced both skill-shortage vacancies and skills 
gaps. It is more commonly the case that employers are not fully utilising their 
workforces’ skills.  
Half of UK employers (48 per cent) report skills under-use, and 4.3 million workers 
(16 per cent of the total UK workforce) are reported as being over-skilled and over-
qualified for the jobs that they are currently doing. Employers in the devolved 
administrations were more likely than those in England to report that any of their staff 
were over-skilled and over-qualified. Employers in the Hotels and Restaurants sector 
were particularly likely to report this to be the case, and those in the Public Administration 
and Manufacturing sectors are least likely. 
An even greater proportion of employers (71 per cent) predict that their skills 
requirements will change over the next 12 months. The occupational groups most likely to 
be affected are Professional occupations and Caring, Leisure and Other occupations; the 
skills of staff currently employed in these roles tend to stand up quite well against 
employer need (low density of skills gaps), but they are both occupations in which it is 
relatively more difficult to find suitably skilled candidates for new positions (high density of 
skill-shortage vacancies). 
 
 

 
12 
Training and Workforce Development 
Most employers fund or arrange training for their staff: two-thirds had done so over 
the previous 12 months (66 per cent), a figure in line with 2011 (65 per cent). While most 
employers could be described as being in ‘training equilibrium’ having been able to 
provide all the training that they wanted over the previous 12 months, over two-fifths of all 
employers (42 per cent, including non-trainers that had not delivered any) wanted to 
provide more training than they had been able to do. By far the most common reason that  
employers do not provide training is that they believe all their staff to be fully proficient in 
their roles.  
There have been some notable changes since 2011 in the nature of training activity 
conducted. There is evidence of more employers providing off-the-job training, and 
training being more widely offered across the workforce. More employers have 
arranged any off-the-job training (49 per cent compared to 47 per cent in 2011) and fewer 
have only offered on-job training (17 per cent compared to 19 per cent in 2011); and the 
proportion of staff trained over the previous 12 months has risen substantially from 55 per 
cent to 62 per cent.  
On the other hand, there is evidence of less training being provided on an 
individual basis. Each person trained received fewer days training over the last 12 
months in 2013 than in 2011 (an average of 6.7 days compared with 7.8 days in 2011) 
meaning that the total number of training days employers had provided over the previous 
12 months has decreased slightly since 2011 (from 115 million to 113 million days).  
Moreover, total employer investment in training decreased by five per cent in the 
period 2011 to 2013 (from £45.3bn to £42.9bn). Training investment per person trained 
fell by 17 per cent, from around £3,075 in 2011 to £2,550 in 2013 although this was in the 
context of a large increase in the number of staff being trained. 
In the context of tightened economic circumstances, it is not unreasonable for employers 
to seek to invest more widely in training. Although training spend and the numbers of 
days spent training are slightly down across the UK as a whole, this has been achieved in 
combination with an increase in the number of staff trained, an increase in the ratio of off-
the-job to on-the-job training (a crude measure of the quality of training) and an increase 
in the proportion of training that leads to a recognised qualification. This could suggest a 
more efficient allocation of resource to partially offset a relatively modest cut in the level 
of overall spend. 

 
13 
There is some variation in training activity by country: Employers in Scotland were the 
most likely to have funded or arranged any training in the previous 12 months (70 per 
cent) and those in Wales the least likely (62 per cent). Employers in Scotland also trained 
a greater proportion of their workforce (65 per cent) than employers elsewhere in the UK 
(as was the case in 2011 also); employers in Northern Ireland trained the lowest 
proportion of their workforce (59 per cent). 
Recruitment of Young People 
Most “recruiting employers” (by which we mean employers who recruited anyone over 
the previous two to three years) recruited at least one young person: overall 44 per 
cent of all employers recruited a young person in the two to three years preceding the 
survey. 
Around a quarter of employers recruited at least one education leaver in that period. 
Around one in five employers only recruited young people not entering their first job out of 
education, and did not recruit any education leavers. 
The main obstacle to (more) young people getting new jobs is competition in the 
market place. Half of recruiting employers who had not recruited young job applicants 
had opted instead for older candidates who were better placed; in this instance young 
people who applied for these jobs may have been suitable, but the recruiters opted for a 
candidate over the age of 25 to fill the role. Where young applicants were not considered 
to meet the requirements of the role, the main reasons cited were lack of skills and 
experience, and sometimes both. Three in five recruiting employers (61 per cent) who 
had not recruited a young person said they had had no applications from young people. 
The reasons why some young people were not successful in their job applications 
mirrored the reasons why some employers were disappointed with the preparedness of 
recruits entering the job market in their first roles since leaving education. Most 
employers find the education leavers they take on to be well or very well prepared for 
work, although as many as four in ten employers taking on school leavers at 16 from 
schools in England, Northern Ireland or Wales described the recruits as poorly prepared 
(as do three in ten employers in Scotland taking new recruits from Scottish schools 
between the ages of 16 and 18). 
High Performance Working practices and Product Market Strategies 
High Performance Working (HPW) is defined by the UK Commission as ‘a general 
approach to managing organisations that aims to stimulate more effective employee 
involvement and commitment in order to achieve high levels of performance’ (UKCES 
2009).  

 
14 
The survey identifies a minority of employers – 12 per cent – who are “HPW employers” 
in the sense that they adopt a number of HPW practices.  
Such employers are considerably more active in the recruitment market than 
average: twice as many have a vacancy as non-HPW employers (29 per cent compared 
to 13 per cent). The evidence suggests that they find it easier to fill the vacancies they 
have than non-HPW employers: under a quarter of HPW employers’ vacancies were 
proving hard-to-fill (22 per cent) compared to a third among non-HPW employers. 
Similarly a smaller proportion of HPW employers’ vacancies are skill-shortage vacancies 
(19 per cent, compared to 25 per cent among non-HPW employers). 
HPW employers are also considerably more likely to experience skill gaps than non-HPW 
employers (23 per cent compared to 14 per cent), although the proportion of their 
workforce that lacks proficiency is in line with the national average (five per cent). 
HPW employers are more likely to train and train a higher proportion of their workforce. 
Product Market Strategies (PMS) are defined within the survey by aggregating responses 
to a series of questions exploring pricing strategies, approaches to innovation and the 
nature of the product market (the extent to which the market attracts a “premium” and the 
extent of customisation of products and services in the market).  
Aggregating these responses classifies two in five private sector employers in the UK as 
having a high or very high product market strategy indicating that their competitive 
success is not dependent on price, they pursue innovation, they compete on quality 
and/or that they offer customised goods or services. 
Employers with a higher composite PMS score are more likely to have a vacancy, hard-
to-fill vacancy or skill-shortage vacancy than employers with a lower score. However, the 
evidence suggests that the recruitment challenge is greater for employers with a low 
composite PMS score in the sense that a greater proportion of their vacancies are 
reported to be hard-to-fill than is the case among employers with a high composite PMS. 
Similarly, employers with a high composite PMS score are more likely to identify skill 
gaps than employers with a low score, but the proportion of their workforce that lacks 
proficiency is no higher. 
In a similar vein, employers with a higher composite PMS score are more likely to fund or 
arrange training for their staff. 
 
 
 

 
15 
1 
Introduction 
1.1 
The UK-wide employer skills survey 
This report presents the headline findings from the UK Commission’s Employer Skills 
Survey 2013 (UKCESS 2013), the latest in a series of research studies designed by the 
UK Commission to provide a definitive picture of the skills challenges faced by employers 
across the UK. 
The 2013 survey represents the second in the UKCESS series, with 2011 the first year 
the UK-wide survey was run. Previously each nation of the UK conducted its own survey. 
These were similar in style but varied in the employer population they covered and the 
timescales in which they were conducted, meaning it was not possible to fully compare 
results across nations. The 2011 survey brought these separate entities together into one 
survey, which means that whilst time series data on the skills measures does not now go 
back further than 20111, we are able to look at the picture across the UK as a whole and 
have scope to compare between the constituent nations. 
The Employer Skills Survey is designed to complement and supplement the UK 
Commission’s Employer Perspectives Survey series (UKCEPS) which explores how 
employers go about meeting their skills needs, particularly looking at their recruitment 
processes, their use of external skills services, and their engagement with vocational 
qualifications. The latest edition of UKCEPS (UKCEPS 2012) presented evidence that 
showed that employers are more likely to use private sector training firms than public 
providers in further and higher education to deliver external training, raising questions 
about the availability / suitability of public training provision; UKCESS 2013 explores 
employers’ training spend in these public sector markets to continue this line of 
investigation. 
Based on over 91,000 interviews with employers in every sector, the UKCESS 2013 
provides an opportunity to assess how skills deficiencies might be impacting on business 
performance. It measures the prevalence, nature and impact of skills challenges, and 
details the nature and extent of employer investment in skills. 
This evidence report represents an initial overview of the survey’s findings, in which we: 
 
Present findings across the UK, including time series analysis comparing 2013 
results with 20112; 
                                                 
1 The lack of a longer time series relates to the UK as a whole: it is possible to trace valid time series data for employers in 
England going back to 1999. 
2 The population of employers in scope for the 2013 survey differed from the population included in 2011; as a result the 
figures quoted in this report as 2011 figures often differ from figures published at the time. Full details can be found in 
Annex J and the technical report that accompanies this volume [www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey  ]. 

 
16 
 
Compare experiences and behaviours between employers across the countries of 
the UK both in 2013 and in terms of trends over time; 
 
Examine the interrelationship between the key UKCESS measures - skills gaps, 
skills shortages and workforce development activity.  
As well as written commentary, the appendices to this report include abridged data 
tabulations detailing key survey measures. 
Full UK data tabulations have also been published alongside this report and are available 
here: www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey   
1.2 
Methodological overview 
Like its predecessors, UKCESS 2013 was carried out in two parts: a core survey of UK 
employers, and a follow-up survey of workplaces which had funded or arranged training 
for employees in the 12 months preceding the survey, to look at the investment they had 
made in this training (the “Investment in Training Survey”); both surveys were conducted 
by telephone. 
This section briefly summarises the key features of the methodology adopted across both 
surveys. Further detail can be found in the separate technical report which accompanies 
this report (www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey). 
1.2.1 Survey sampling 
Sampling for the survey covered establishments (as opposed to enterprises) in the UK 
with at least two staff (including both employees and working proprietors). Sole traders 
and establishments with just one employee and no working proprietors were excluded 
from the survey population.  
The survey encompasses establishments across the full geographical spread of the UK, 
in all sectors of the economy (across the commercial, public and charitable spheres). The 
profile of this population was established through the Office for National Statistics (ONS) 
based on data from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) March 2012 
statistics. 
Contact details for employers were sourced from Experian’s commercial database of 
establishments, supplemented by some records supplied directly through the IDBR (in 
order to ensure full representation of establishments in certain non-commercial sectors in 
particular). 

 
17 
In addition to the geography, sector and size of establishments, the Investment in 
Training follow-up survey also ensures robust coverage by the nature of the training the 
establishment provides (whether it is on-the-job training only, off-the-job training only, or a 
combination of the two). All of the employers interviewed for the Investment in Training 
Survey had been interviewed as part of the core survey and had given their permission to 
be contacted for this follow-up research. 
1.2.2 Survey questionnaire 
The core survey questionnaire was based largely on that used in the 2011 survey. In 
order to minimise the burden placed on employers, a number of questions were dropped 
from the survey. On the other hand, a small number of new questions were introduced 
covering topics of particular policy interest. In overall terms, the average length of 
interview was reduced by two minutes, to 22 minutes.  
The need to maintain comparability and address all the areas of interest whilst reducing 
the length from the 2011 survey placed considerable pressures on the questionnaire. In 
order to tackle these issues, as in 2011, a modularised questionnaire design was 
developed where certain sections were only asked of half of the respondents. The report 
makes clear where questions were split in this way; further details are provided in the 
Technical Report.  
The questionnaire administered for the previous UK Investment in Training Survey in 
2011 was used again in 2013, with two additional questions on the amount spent with 
different types of training providers. 
1.2.3 Survey fieldwork 
Fieldwork for the core survey was undertaken between March and July 2013, and 
involved over 91,000 interviews. 
Fieldwork for the follow-up Investment in Training Survey was undertaken in May to July 
2013, and involved more than 13,000 interviews with employers who had taken part in 
the first survey.  
An overall response rate of 44 per cent was achieved for the core survey; this represents 
a slight improvement on the 2011 survey, which achieved an overall response rate of 39 
per cent. Response in 2013 was highest in Scotland (51 per cent) and lowest in England 
(43 per cent). 

 
18 
For the Investment in Training follow-up, respondents were already engaged with the 
survey so a much higher response rate of 71 per cent was achieved; this ranged from 76 
per cent in Northern Ireland to 65 per cent in Wales. 
Table 1.1 Survey response rates 
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Core survey 
 
 
 
 
 
Interviews 
91,279 
75,255 
4,014 
6,014 
5,996 
Response rate 
44% 
43% 
47% 
51% 
45% 
Investment in Training follow up 
Interviews 
13,138 
9,140 
1,070 
1,496 
1,432 
Response rate 
71% 
70% 
76% 
75% 
65% 
 
1.2.4 Data weighting 
Findings from the core survey have been weighted and grossed up to accurately 
represent the total population of UK establishments in which at least two people work. 
This has been done on a size, sector and regional basis. Separate weights have been 
generated which allow findings to be presented (a) based on the number of workplaces 
reporting a particular experience, and (b) based on the number of employees and/or job 
roles affected by different challenges. 
Findings from the Investment in Training survey have been weighted and grossed up to 
reflect the population of training employers as generated by the weighted Wave 1 
findings.  
1.3 The nature of UK establishments: describing the survey population 
In order to give some context to the findings that are presented throughout this report, 
and to facilitate understanding of the differences in employers’ experiences and practices, 
this section describes some of the key characteristics of the UK employer population.  
It is important to note that the statistics presented in this section of the report are 
variously based on official counts of establishments provided by the Office of National 
Statistics (ONS) and on weighted survey findings; the footnotes on each table or chart 
detail the source. 

 
19 
ONS figures show there were around 1.7 million “in-scope” establishments in the UK in 
March 2012, with around 27 million people were working in them3 (see Table A.1.1 in 
Annex A).  
Figure 1.1 summarises key information on the profile of establishments and employment 
across the UK, based on ONS data. This reveals that while most establishments (52 per 
cent) are small and employ fewer than five staff, these very small employers account for 
just nine per cent of all employment. In contrast, sites with 100 or more staff make up just 
two per cent of the employer population, but account for two-fifths (42 per cent) of total 
employment. Public sector employers are much larger than average: they account for 
four per cent of all establishments but 17 per cent of all employment (see Table A.1.2 in 
Annex A).  
 
 
                                                 
3 All establishments with two or more people working at them were in-scope for the survey. See Annex I for further details.  

 
20 
Figure 1.1  Headline information on the profile of UK establishments and employment  
 
 
 
 
 
42%
25%
24%
9%
2%
8%
37%
52%
2-4
5-24
25-99
100+
ESTABLISHMENTS VS EMPLOYMENT
Employer Profile
MULTISITE
SINGLE 
SITE
35%
65%
RETAIL AND WHOLESALE
BUSINESS SERVICES
21%
16%
20%
17%
GREATEST PROPORTION OF ESTABLISHMENTS IN…
PRIVATE 
SECTOR
3RD
SECTOR
PUBLIC
SECTOR
ENGLAND
73%
87%
10%
9%
16%
4%
SCOTLAND
PRIVATE 
SECTOR
3RD
SECTOR
PUBLIC
SECTOR
68%
82%
12%
11%
6%
20%
N. IRELAND
PRIVATE 
SECTOR
3RD
SECTOR
PUBLIC
SECTOR
71%
82%
11%
10%
18%
7%
WALES
PRIVATE 
SECTOR
3RD
SECTOR
PUBLIC
SECTOR
73%
86%
7%
8%
19%
6%
PRIVATE 
SECTOR
3RD
SECTOR
PUBLIC
SECTOR
UK
72%
86%
10%
9%
17%
4%
Source: ONS Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: UKCESS 2013
Source: ONS Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)

 
21 
1.4 
Structure of this report 
This report has been structured into five key sections followed by a chapter drawing out 
conclusions. 
 
Chapter 2: Employers’ experience of skill shortages  
This chapter looks at employer recruitment activity, measuring the extent, causes 
and impacts of recruitment difficulties, with a particular focus on skill shortages 
within the labour market and the impact such labour market failure has on 
establishments. 
 
Chapter 3: The internal skills challenge 
This chapter explores the proficiency of establishments’ existing workforces, and 
describes these skills gaps in detail, for example examining the skills lacking by 
occupation. It covers employers’ predictions of the need for new skills among their 
staff (“upskilling”) and also looks at the under-utilisation of skills where 
establishments report that employees have more skills and qualifications than 
required for their current job role. 
 
Chapter 4: Employer investment in training and skills 
The fourth chapter explores in detail the extent and nature of employer training 
and workforce development, including the investment made in training. It 
examines the number of staff provided with training over the previous 12 months, 
the type and duration of this training, the extent to which employers would have 
liked to provide more training and development than they did, and the barriers that 
prevented increased training activity. 
 
Chapter 5: Recruitment of young people 
This chapter looks at the recruitment of young people, including those recruited 
directly from education, and examines employer perceptions of how well prepared 
they are for work. 
 
Chapter 6: Working practices and product market strategies  
Chapter six explores the working practices being adopted by employers in regard 
to how they manage, develop, engage with and incentivise their staff, and seeks 
to assess the prevalence of High Performance Working (HPW) practices.  
It also explores the Product Market Strategies (PMS) of employers, and whether 
this impacts on their skill needs and training practices. 
 
Chapter 7: Conclusions  
The final chapter revisits the key stories emerging from the different strands of the 
survey, bringing them together and considering their implications.  

 
22 
1.5 
Reporting conventions 
The survey was carried out at an establishment level. The terms “establishment”, 
“employer”, “workplace” and “business unit” are used for this interchangeably throughout 
this report to avoid excessive repetition and to aid reading. 
Throughout the report unweighted base figures are shown on tables and charts to give an 
indication of the statistical reliability of the figures. These figures are always based on the 
number of establishments answering a question, as this is the information required to 
determine statistical reliability. This means, for example, that where percentages are 
based on “all vacancies” (such as the percentage of all vacancies which are hard-to-fill 
because of a lack of the required skills among applicants) the base figure quoted is the 
unweighted number of establishments with vacancies.  
In tables, “zero” is denoted as a dash (“-“); and an asterisk is used (“*”) if the figure is 
larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 per cent. 
Throughout the report, figures with a base size of fewer than 25 establishments are not 
reported (a double asterisk, “**”, is displayed instead), and figures with a base size of 25 
to 49 are italicised and should be treated with caution.   
The scale and scope of data collected by the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 
2013 means that it is a valuable research resource supporting detailed and complex 
statistical analysis of the inter-relationships between employer characteristics, and their 
practices and experiences. The findings presented in this report reflect a descriptive 
exploration of the data; however, it should be noted that in all cases where differences by 
nation are commented on they are statistically significant at the 95 per cent level. Further 
statistical information can be found in Annex E. 
 
 

 
23 
2 
Employers’ Experience of Skill Shortages 
2.1 
Chapter Summary 
The survey supports a picture of a UK economy which is moving towards recovery. 
The number of employers reporting vacancies at the time of the survey (March to July 
2013) was higher than at the equivalent time in 2011 (up from 14 per cent to 15 per cent), 
as was the number of vacancies that they reported (655,000 in 2013, a rise of 12% from 
2011).  
Within England vacancies are back to pre-recession levels, employers reported a total of 
559,600 job vacancies, a rise of 45% per cent from 2009.  Signs of recovery were less 
clear in Northern Ireland, where the proportion of employers reporting vacancies has 
remained consistently behind the UK average (and unchanged at ten per cent of 
employers in both 2011 and 2013). 
Economic growth and recovery may be constrained by skill shortages as the 
labour market responds to employer requirements. While in most cases demand for 
skills is met through successful recruitment, almost three in ten vacancies are reported to 
be hard-to-fill, and shortages in suitably skilled, qualified and/or experienced workers are 
the main reason for this. Overall, such skill-shortage vacancies represent more than one 
in five of all vacancies (22 per cent), up from one in six in 2011 (16 per cent).  
The picture of skill shortages across the UK varies by country as does the change 
in available skills since 2011. The largest shortfall is reported in Scotland where a 
quarter of all vacancies are hard-to-fill because of a shortage in available skills, up from 
15 per cent in 2011. Within England, the longer time series available shows the number 
of skill-shortages has nearly doubled since 2009, increasing from 63,100 to 124,800. 
Skill shortages differ by occupation and pockets of shortages remain largely 
unchanged since 2011. Skilled Trades roles remain the most common occupation 
where skill shortages are likely to be encountered when employers recruit for these roles. 
In 2011, managerial roles were the next most challenged by shortages in available skills; 
since then, the challenge has shifted towards Professionals, Associate Professionals, 
Caring, Leisure and Other services staff and Machine Operatives. 
There appears to have been an increased difficulty finding appropriate oral and written 
communication, literacy and numeracy skills. These core generic skills were all cited as 
lacking by greater proportions of employers reporting skill-shortage vacancies than in 
2011. 
 
 

 
24 
2.2 
Introduction 
At a macro level recruitment tends to signify a healthy labour market and is an indicator of 
growth and a burgeoning economy. Indeed, in recent years, against a backdrop of 
economic uncertainty and difficulty, employer skills surveys have generally reported 
depressed levels of recruitment activity. 
At an individual employer level there can be various reasons for having vacancies. 
Depending on the context, they can be a positive indicator of growth or more negative if 
they signify a loss of key personnel or high staff turnover levels. 
The outcomes of having vacancies are less ambiguous. Either the labour market is able 
to meet employer requirements (the most common scenario) or it isn’t. Typically where 
employers do struggle to fill their vacancies this is due to a lack of skills, qualifications or 
experience amongst applicants. Collectively these are known as “skill-shortage 
vacancies”. Vacancies can also prove ‘hard-to-fill’ for other, non skills-related reasons, 
principally a lack of applicants to the role, issues with applicants’ attitude, personality or 
motivation, or specific issues related to the job role (e.g. poor terms and conditions or 
unsociable hours) or the organisation recruiting (e.g. remote location or poor transport 
links). 
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013 provides us with a detailed 
understanding of the level and nature of employer demand for new staff and the ability of 
the market to meet such demand. This sets the context for then exploring imbalances and 
mismatches in the labour market that result from a lack of skills.  
The key measures used in this chapter are as follows: 
 
 
 
Vacancies 
Hard-to-fill 
vacancies 
Incidence 
Density 
Skill-shortage 
vacancies 
The proportion of 
establishments 
reporting at least 
one vacancy 
The number of 
vacancies per 
100 employees 
The proportion of 
establishments 
reporting at least 
one hard-to-fill 
vacancy
Hard-to-fill vacancies 
as a proportion of all 
vacancies 
The proportion of 
establishments 
reporting at least 
one skill-shortage 
vacancy
Skill-shortage 
vacancies as a 
proportion of all 
vacancies 

 
25 
Following a brief analysis of vacancies, this chapter focuses specifically on skill-shortage 
vacancies (those vacancies that employers find difficult to fill specifically as a result of a 
lack of applicants in the labour market with the required skills, qualifications and/or 
experience). The chapter examines their incidence, volume and profile, before exploring 
the specific skills that employers find lacking and the impact that this has. It closes with a 
brief discussion of the extent of wider recruitment challenges that employers face beyond 
skills deficiencies. Time series for the headline measures by country can be found in 
Annex B. 
2.3 
Vacancies 
Most employers have recent experience of recruitment. The latest version of the UK 
Commission’s Employer Perspectives Survey (UKCES, 2012b) reported that around  half 
of employers had at least one vacancy over the 12 months prior to the survey, while 
almost two-thirds reported recruiting in the previous two to three years. However, at any 
one point in time, the majority of establishments are not looking to recruit new staff; 15 
per cent had a current vacancy at the time of UKCESS 2013 fieldwork.  
Although most employers reported having no current vacancies, there has been an 
increase in recruitment activity since the 2011 survey when 14 per cent of establishments 
reported having a vacancy. This is also an increase from when the previous skills surveys 
were conducted in the individual countries of the UK4.  
In total, there were around 655,000 vacancies across the UK at the time of the survey 
(equivalent to 2.4 per cent of total employment). This is an increase of 12 per cent 
compared to 2011 when there were around 587,000 vacancies (equivalent of 2.2 per cent 
of total employment).  
As shown in Table 2.1, evidence of a recovery in the labour market can be seen across 
England, Scotland and Wales, though not in Northern Ireland (although more recent 
macroeconomic data are suggesting that the recovery is taking root there too). 
 
 
                                                 
4 With the exception of Wales, although this was conducted much earlier in 2005 . 

 
26 
Table 2.1  Incidence and density of vacancies by country 
 
 
 
% of establishments 
with a vacancy 
(incidence) 
Vacancies as a % of 
employment 
(density) 
 
Unweighted base 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
 
 2011 
 2013 
% 
% 
% 
% 
UK 
86,522 
91,279 
14 
15 
2.2 
2.4 
Country 
 
 
  
  
  
  
England 
74,156 
75,255 
14 
15 
2.2 
2.5 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
4,014 
10 
10 
2.4 
2.1 
Scotland 
2,487 
6,014 
14 
15 
1.9 
2.4 
Wales 
5,958 
5,996 
12 
14 
1.9 
2.2 
Base: All establishments 
Percentages in the final two columns are shown as a proportion of all employment. 
There is substantial variation in the extent and pattern of recruitment activity by size of 
establishment and by sector. Whilst the proportion of establishments reporting vacancies 
increases with the size of establishment, the density of vacancies is larger among the 
smaller establishments. By sector, the proportion of establishments reporting vacancies 
ranges from five per cent in Agriculture to 29 per cent in Education while density of 
vacancies ranges from 1.4 per cent of total employment in Agriculture to 3.7 per cent in 
Hotels and Restaurants and Community, Social & Personal Service Activities.  
The survey also identifies the occupational groups and jobs where vacancies exist5. As in 
2011, there is a particularly high level of demand for Associate Professional roles, with six 
vacancies for every 100 people working in these roles; this is also the occupation for 
which employers were most likely to report vacancies (19 per cent of employers with 
vacancies do so).  
Tables A.2.1 and A.2.2 in Annex A provide a detailed breakdown of recruitment activity 
by country, size of establishment, sector and occupation. 
 
 
                                                 
5 For a definition of occupational groups, see Annex D 

 
27 
2.4 
Skill-shortage vacancies 
While recruitment activity has increased, the labour market typically appears able to meet 
employer requirements with approaching three-quarters of vacancies across the UK (71 
per cent) reported as not difficult to fill6. However, the majority of vacancies that are 
difficult for employers to fill are, at least in part, a result of a lack of skills, qualifications or 
experience amongst applicants (77 per cent of all vacancies that are hard-to-fill)7. The 
rest of this section explores these skill-shortage vacancies in more detail. 
2.4.1 The incidence, volume and density of skill-shortage vacancies 
For the vast majority of establishments, demand for skills is met through successful 
recruitment (or through their current workforce, as will be explored in the next chapter). 
Only four per cent of establishments reported having vacancies at the time of the survey 
that they were having difficulties filling due to a lack of skills, qualifications or experience 
in applicants for the role.  
While it is relatively uncommon for employers to report such skills shortages, this 
represents an increase from the three per cent reported in 2011, with employers across 
all countries more likely to report skill-shortage vacancies.  Moreover, the proportion of all 
vacancies that employers found hard-to-fill at least in part due to a shortage of skills in 
the labour market (often referred to as skill-shortage vacancy density) has increased from 
16 per cent to 22 per cent.  
Table 2.2  Incidence and density of skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs) by country 
 
 
 
% of establishments 
with an SSV (incidence) 
% of vacancies which 
are SSVs (density) 
 
Unwtd base 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
 
 2011 
 2013 
% 
% 
% 
% 
UK 
86,522 
91,279 
3 
4 
16 
22 
Country 
 
 
  
  
  
  
England 
74,156 
75,255 
3 
4 
15 
22 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
4,014 
2 
3 
21 
19 
Scotland 
2,487 
6,014 
3 
4 
15 
25 
Wales 
5,958 
5,996 
3 
4 
18 
20 
Base: Columns 1 and 2 All establishments; Columns 3 and 4 All establishments with vacancies 
Percentages in Columns 3 and 4 are shown as a proportion of all vacancies. 
Note: the 2013 “% of vacancies which are SSVs” figure for Northern Ireland has been updated since this 
report was first published (updated July 2014). 
                                                 
6 Of course very recent vacancies may not be described as hard-to-fill but may become so over time. 
7 During the survey, employers were first asked to give their reasons for not being able to fill vacancies spontaneously (i.e. 
without being presented with a list of possible reasons). Any employers not reporting skills-related issues were then 
prompted as to whether any of their hard-to-fill vacancies were proving hard-to-fill due to a lack of skills, experience or 
qualifications among applicants, and these responses combined to give an overall picture of the incidence and volume of 
skill-shortage vacancies in the market. 

 
28 
In volume terms there were around 146,000 skill-shortage vacancies reported in the UK 
at the time of the survey. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to 2011 when there 
were just over 91,000; therefore growth in the number of skill-shortage vacancies has 
outpaced the 12 per cent growth in the number of vacancies over the same period.  
It is in Scotland and England where the greatest proportion of vacancies were hard-to-fill 
due to lack of skills, qualifications or experience in applicants for the role. This reverses 
the pattern seen in 2011 where the density of skill-shortage vacancies was highest in 
Wales and Northern Ireland. Within England, the number of skill-shortage vacancies are 
higher than pre-recession levels seen in 2009 (see Annex B).  
As in 2011, vacancies in smaller establishments were more likely to be hard-to-fill due to 
the difficulties in finding applicants with appropriate skills, qualifications or experience. 
Approaching a third of all vacancies in establishments with fewer than five staff were 
hard-to-fill as a result of a lack of skills, qualifications or experience compared to 15 per 
cent in the largest establishments. There has been an increase in skill-shortage vacancy 
density across all size bands since 2011. 
By sector, the proportion of vacancies reported as hard-to-fill as a result of a lack of skills, 
qualifications or experience ranges from 10 per cent in Financial Services to 30 per cent 
in Manufacturing. In line with the increase seen in England and Scotland and across all 
size bands, most sectors have experienced an increase in skill-shortage vacancy density 
with Public Administration and Health and Social Work seeing their density more than 
double. It is in the Manufacturing and Agriculture sectors where skills deficiencies when 
recruiting are most concentrated and persistent - these sectors reported the highest skill-
shortage vacancy density in both 2011 and 2013. However, other sectors are closing the 
gap and are now facing similar levels of skills deficiencies, in particular Business Services 
and Transport and Communication. 
The Financial Services sector bucks the general trend with a reduction in density from 17 
per cent to 10 per cent. 
Tables A.2.3 and A.2.4 in Annex A provide a detailed breakdown of skill-shortage 
vacancies by country, size of establishment and sector. 
As seen in 2011, as well as in all previous skills surveys conducted in the individual 
countries of the UK, it is amongst Skilled Trades where the greatest proportion of 
vacancies were hard-to-fill because of skills deficiencies in the available labour market 
(39 per cent). This compares to an average of 22 per cent across all occupations.  

 
29 
Since 2011, the density of skill-shortage vacancies has increased across all occupational 
groups with the exception of Managers (which had stayed at the same level). The pattern 
is broadly the same as 2011, although there has been a heightened challenge regarding 
recruiting suitably skilled Caring, Leisure and Other Services, Professionals, Associate 
Professionals and Machine Operative staff. Skill-shortage vacancies for Administrative, 
Sales and Elementary roles remain comparatively less pronounced. 
Figure 2.1  Density and number of skill-shortage vacancies by occupation (2011 vs 2013) 
 
Although care should be taken to not over-extrapolate because of the small base sizes in 
places, exploring occupations within specific sectors where a large proportion of 
vacancies are proving hard-to-fill as a result of skills deficiencies in the labour market 
provides a more detailed and nuanced picture of employers’ demand for skills and the 
ability of the market to meet these needs. 
Figure 2.2 shows the pattern of skill-shortage vacancy density by occupation, sector and 
occupation within sectors. It highlights in orange those occupations, sectors and 
occupations within sector where skill-shortage vacancy density is at least 30 per cent.  
 
 
Base for boxes: All establishments (91,279)
Base for bars: All establishments with vacancies (as shown)
2011:
(987)
(3,025)
(3,179)
(2,648)
(2,219)
(2,556)
(2,275)
(1,129)
(2,844)
2013:
(1,168)
(3,594)
(3,406)
(2,760)
(2,600)
(3,232)
(2,578)
(1,197)
(3,171)
20%
19%
18%
10%
33%
15%
9%
14%
10%
20%
30%
26%
13%
39%
27%
13%
25%
13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
2011 SSV density
2013 SSV density
4,700
28,800
25,400
8,900
19,800
27,000
10,100
7,400
10,700
Number of SSVs (2013)

 
30 
Figure 2.2  Density of skill-shortage vacancies – occupation, occupation within sector, and 
by sector 
 
A number of these pockets of deficiency have proved to be persistent over time. 
Certainly, the much higher than average density of skill-shortage vacancies for Skilled 
Trades occupations has been evident across a number of sectors for a number of years, 
while skill shortages have persistently hampered recruitment to Professionals roles in 
Manufacturing, Business Services and Public Administration. 

 
31 
However, there are also a number of emerging pockets of skills deficiency. These 
include: 
 
Professionals in Health and Social Work 
 
Associate Professionals in Business Services 
 
Machine Operatives in Business Services and Construction 
 
Caring, Leisure and Other Services roles in Public Administration 
Conversely, while skill-shortage vacancy density has increased across all occupations 
(except Managers) and across most sectors, there are a handful of specific occupations 
within sectors where skills-related recruitment difficulties have eased. This includes 
Professionals in the Construction sector and Managers in the Health and Social Work 
sector. 
Tables A.2.5 and A.2.5a in Annex A provide a full and detailed breakdown of skill-
shortage vacancy density by occupation within sector. 
2.4.2 Skills lacking in the available labour market  
Employers who reported having vacancies that were difficult to fill because of skill 
shortages were read a list of types of skills and asked, for each occupation in which they 
reported skill-shortage vacancies, which skills were lacking. Figure 2.3 shows results 
based on the total number of skill-shortage vacancies (as opposed to establishments with 
skill-shortage vacancies). 
Almost two-thirds of all skill-shortage vacancies were ascribed to a lack of technical, 
practical or job-specific skills.  
Generic or “softer” skills such as planning and organisation, customer handling, problem 
solving and team working were each cited in connection with between one-third and two-
fifths of skill-shortage vacancies.  
This is a broadly similar pattern to 2011 although there has been an increase in the 
proportion of skill-shortage vacancies resulting from a lack of communication skills, 
particularly oral communication (41 per cent, up from 37 per cent in 2011), as well as a 
lack of literacy (34 per cent up from 28 per cent in 2011) and numeracy skills (26 per 
cent, up from 24 per cent)8. 
 
 
 
                                                 
8 There has also been a marked decrease in the proportion of skill-shortage vacancies attributed to a lack of technical, 
practical or job specific skills. However, it should be noted that in 2011 there were separate codes for “technical/practical 
skills” and “job-specific skills”. The extent to which the combining of these into one single “technical, practical or job specific 
skills” code has impacted on this decrease is difficult to tell. 

 
32 
Figure 2.3  Skills lacking among applicants (prompted) 
 
Table A.2.6 in Annex A provides a picture of the skills lacking in the available labour 
market in each of the countries. Although care should be taken when interpreting these 
findings due to the relative low base sizes outside England, a number of the softer skills 
(e.g. team working and problem solving) were reported as being particularly hard to find 
in Northern Ireland.  
Table A.2.7 in Annex A provides a breakdown of skills lacking by occupation. A lack of 
technical, practical or job-specific skills was particularly likely to affect Skilled Trades, 
Associate Professionals, Professionals and Process, Plant and Machine Operative 
occupations. Softer skills were more frequently reported to be lacking among Sales and 
Customer Service, Administrative / Clerical and Elementary applicants. 
 
 
16%
17%
22%
26%
30%
33%
34%
37%
38%
40%
41%
41%
63%
Basic computer literacy / using IT
Foreign language skills
Advanced IT or software skills
Numeracy skills
Strategic Management skills
Team working skills
Literacy skills
Problem solving skills
Written communication skills
Customer handling skills
Oral communication skills
Planning and Organisation skills
Technical, practical or job specific skills
Base : All establishments with skills shortage vacancies - up to 6 occupations followed up (4,897) 

 
33 
2.4.3 The impact of skill-shortage vacancies on employers 
Although skill-shortage vacancies are only reported by a small minority of employers (four 
per cent), for those that have them the impact can be significant. In total, 95 per cent of 
employers that had difficulty filling their vacancies solely as a result of skill shortages9 
reported that these were having an impact on the establishment. 
Most commonly the impact was felt on other staff with 84 per cent of these employers 
reporting that they result in an increased workload for other staff.  
Approaching half of employers that had difficulty filling their vacancies solely as a result of 
skill shortages reported that they were having a more direct impact on the organisation in 
terms of causing difficulties in meeting customer service objectives (49 per cent), delays 
developing new products or services (44 per cent), a loss of business or orders to 
competitors (42 per cent) or increased operating costs (42 per cent). 
The landscape has changed very little since 2011 in terms of the impact of skill-shortage 
vacancies and the relative prevalence of each of the impacts. 
 
 
                                                 
9 The survey does not measure the impact of skill-shortage vacancies on employers specifically (i.e. it does not ask 
employers with skill-shortage vacancies what the impacts of these are on the establishment, only the impact of vacancies 
that are proving difficult to fill as a whole). However, we can isolate the effect of skill deficiencies by exploring the impact of 
hard-to-fill vacancies in establishments where all the hard-to-fill vacancies were caused by skills-related issues.  Given the 
majority of establishments with hard-to-fill vacancies fall into this group (76 per cent) – in part reflecting that the majority 
have just a single vacancy that proved difficult to fill - this is a suitable sample from which we can gain a robust 
measurement. 
 

 
34 
Figure 2.4  Impact of skill-shortage vacancies (prompted) 
 
2.5 
Wider recruitment challenges and hard-to-fill vacancies  
As discussed earlier, while recruitment difficulties are most commonly a result of skill 
shortages in the available labour market, employers can face other recruitment 
challenges and have difficulty filling their vacancies for non skills-related reasons. These 
include a lack of applicants to the role, issues with the job role, terms, hours or location, 
or issues with applicants’ attitude, personality or motivation. Often there can be a number 
of underlying factors and they can be inter-related (e.g. a lack of applicants as a result of 
the poor pay on offer). 
The proportion of all vacancies that employers found hard-to-fill at least in part due to a 
shortage of skills in the labour market was 22 per cent, an increase from 16 per cent in 
2011. A further seven per cent of vacancies have proved difficult to fill exclusively for 
reasons not related to skills, similar to the proportion reported in 2011.  
Table A.2.8 in the annex provides further detail by country, size of establishment, sector 
and occupation on the ratio of skill-shortage vacancies compared to vacancies that 
employers are having difficulty filling for entirely non-skills related reasons. The very 
largest employers (those with 250 employees or more) and those in Manufacturing and 
Business Services sectors stand out as those where recruitment challenges are 
particularly centred on skills deficiencies. 
5%
21%
24%
29%
35%
37%
42%
42%
44%
49%
84%
None
Difficulties introducing technological change
Withdraw from offering certain products / services
Outsource work
Have difficulties meeting quality standards
Have difficulties introducing new working practices
Experience increased operating costs
Lose business or orders to competitors
Delay developing new products or services
Difficulties meeting customer services objectives
Increased workload for other staff
Base: All establishments where all hard-to-fill vacancies caused by skills related issues (4,675)

 
35 
2.6 
Conclusions 
Indicative of a move towards economic recovery, the survey findings reveal increased 
employer recruitment activity in 2013 compared with 2011. More employers had 
vacancies at the time of the interview, and the number of vacancies (as a proportion of 
the workforce) had increased. 
While few establishments (four per cent) reported having skills-related recruitment 
difficulties at the time of the study, this is an increase compared with 2011. Moreover, the 
proportion of vacancies in the UK that employers found hard-to-fill due to skill shortages 
has increased markedly from 16 per cent in 2011 to 22 per cent in 2013; within England 
this is the first rise seen since 2005. This suggests increased employer competition and 
demand for skills, and highlights the potential for skill shortages in the labour market to 
act as a brake on economic recovery. 
Continuing longer term trends, skill shortages in the labour market are concentrated in 
particular sectors and occupations, and are particularly likely to be found in 
Manufacturing, and where employers are recruiting for Skilled Trades and Professional 
roles. There have been noticeable increases in the difficulty recruiting suitably skilled 
Caring, Leisure and Other Services, Professionals, Associate Professionals and Machine 
Operative staff compared with 2011, suggesting these are areas where the labour market 
is facing growing challenges in meeting employer demand. 
 
 

 
36 
3 
The Internal Skills Challenge 
3.1 
Summary 
Most employers say they have a proficient workforce with no skills gaps: 15 per cent 
report that some of their staff are not fully proficient, and these skills gaps represent one 
in 20 employees (five per cent). This represents a slight fall in the proportion of 
workplaces with proficiency challenges since 2011 (when the figures stood at 17 per 
cent), but a broadly consistent picture in terms of the proportion of the workforce which is 
affected. 
A larger proportion of employers face skills gaps in Scotland (19 per cent) than elsewhere 
in the UK, although this figure has fallen 2011 (21 per cent). Proficiency problems affect a 
slightly larger proportion of employees in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales than in 
2011; in England a smaller proportion of the workforce has skills gaps than was the case 
in 2011, taking skills gaps to their lowest level in a decade.  
In most cases (three-quarters of all skills gaps), proficiency problems are due at least in 
part to employees being new in their roles and/or still in training for their roles. These 
factors are both (predominantly) transient: that is to say one would expect skills gaps 
resulting from these causes to be eliminated once staff have settled into their new roles 
and/or existing training has been completed. 
Job roles where (internal) skills gaps are most prominent tend to be ones in which there 
are relatively few (external) skill shortages. The occupations where skills gaps are most 
acute are Sales and Customer Services staff and Elementary staff, which are two of the 
occupations with the lowest density of skill shortages (alongside Administration roles). 
Conversely, the occupations in which skill shortages were the most acute, Associate 
Professionals and Machine Operatives, present average levels of skills gaps, while skills 
gaps are relatively uncommon among Professional and Caring, Leisure and Other 
Services staff. In the eyes of employers, skills gaps affect Managers less than other 
occupations10. 
                                                 
10 This runs counter to the view expressed elsewhere that deficiencies in leadership skills are having a significantly 
detrimental effect on the UK economy (for example, Leadership and Management in the UK – the Key to Sustainable 
Growth, BIS 2012) 

 
37 
Employers tend to be challenged either in terms of having inadequate skills among some 
of their existing workforce or struggling to find new recruits with the skills that the vacant 
positions require. It is very rare for employers to be challenged from both directions; just 
one per cent of all employers experienced both skill-shortage vacancies and skills gaps. It 
is more commonly the case that employers are not fully utilising their workforces’ skills. 
Half of UK employers (48 per cent) report that they have staff whose skills are not being 
under used and who are over-qualified for their job role; some 4.3 million workers (16 per 
cent of the total UK workforce) are reported as being over-skilled and having skills that 
are under-used.  
An even greater proportion of employers (71 per cent) predict that their skills 
requirements will change over the next 12 months. The occupational groups most likely to 
be affected are Professional occupations and Caring, Leisure and Other occupations; the 
skills of staff currently employed in these roles tend to stand up quite well against 
employer need, but they are both occupations in which it is relatively more difficult to find 
suitably skilled candidates for new positions. 
3.2 
Introduction 
In the previous chapter we looked at the extent to which employers are challenged in 
sourcing the skilled labour that they require, and the impact that shortages in the 
available labour market can have on delivery or profitability (either directly or through the 
knock-on impact on the existing workforce). In this chapter we look at skills challenges 
from an internal perspective, identifying and describing workplaces and job roles within 
which there is a mismatch. A ‘skills mismatch’ can occur as a result of either under- or 
over-skilling: some employees lack the skills required to be fully proficient in their job 
roles (a “skills gap”), whereas others do not fully utilise their existing skill set. The former 
may hinder establishments’ ability to function efficiently, which in turn may then impact 
negatively on productivity; the latter suggests a ‘missed opportunity’ for the employer to 
get the most out of their staff. 
The chapter focuses predominantly on skills gaps, that is, where employees are regarded 
as lacking the requisite skills for their current job roles. It explores the prevalence, 
volume, profile and causes of such skills gaps, before considering the specific skills that 
employers report as lacking, the impact of these skills deficiencies and the actions taken 
in an attempt to overcome them. 
The chapter then turns to the prevalence of skills under-use in the workplace. 

 
38 
Finally, the chapter explores the extent to which employers anticipate that staff will need 
to acquire new skills, the reasons underlying these upskilling needs, and the occupations 
where the need to upskill are likely to be most acutely felt. 
The main measures used in this chapter are as follows: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Time series for skills gaps by country can be found in Annex B. 
3.2.1 The prevalence of skills gaps  
The vast majority of establishments (85 per cent) consider their entire workforce to be 
fully proficient. The remaining 15 per cent of employers identify at least some skills gaps 
amongst their employees: a total of 1.4 million employees are deemed not to be fully 
proficient in their job roles, equating to 5.2 per cent of the total UK workforce. 
Since 2011, there has been a small fall in the proportion of employers reporting skills 
gaps across the UK (from 17 per cent to 15 per cent); the proportion of employees 
identified as not being fully proficient has remained broadly consistent, however in 2011, 
5.5 per cent of the total UK workforce was identified as having skills gaps compared to 
5.2 per cent in 2013. 
This consistency across the UK masks considerable variation across the countries. 
Employers in England buck the UK trend in that they report a lower skill gap density than 
in 2011, and density is now at its lowest since 2003; employers in all the other nations of 
the UK report a considerably higher density of skill gaps than in 2011. 
 
 
Skills gaps 
Under-use of skills  
Incidence 
Density 
Upskilling 
The proportion of 
establishments reporting 
employees not being 
fully proficient 
Skills gaps as a 
proportion of 
employment 
The proportion of 
establishments reporting 
over-qualified and  
over-skilled staff 
Proportion of staff 
reported as being over-
qualified and over-skilled 
The proportion of 
establishments 
anticipating staff 
needing to acquire new 
skills / knowledge over 
coming year 

 
39 
Table 3.1: Incidence, number and density of skills gaps by country (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
 
% of establishments 
with any skills gap 
Number of staff not 
fully proficient 
(skills gaps) 
Number of staff 
with a skills gap as 
a percentage of 
employment  
Row 
percentages 
Unwtd. 
base 
2011 
Unwtd. 
base 
2013 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
2011  
2013  
UK 
86,522 
91,279 
17 
15 
1,485,500 
1,409,900 
5.5 
5.2 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
74,156 
75,255 
17 
15 
1,276,400 
1,169,700 
5.6 
5.1 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
4,014 
13 
14 
34,100 
37,700 
4.4 
5.2 
Scotland 
2,487 
6,014 
21 
19 
121,000 
135,100 
5.2 
5.9 
Wales 
5,958 
5,996 
16 
16 
53,900 
67,400 
4.6 
5.8 
Base: All establishments 
Percentages results are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; figures therefore show the 
number of skills gaps as a proportion of all employment in each country. 
Note: The number of employees not fully proficient has been rounded to the nearest 100. 
Larger employers are far more likely to experience skills gaps than smaller ones (from 
seven per cent of those with 2-4 employees to 48 per cent of those with 250 or more 
employees). This is more a reflection of the size of their workforce than of the quality / 
capability of their workforces per se; indeed, the proportion of staff described as having a 
skills gap is broadly consistent across sizebands, with the very smallest establishments 
being the only exception: just three per cent of the workforce employed by establishments 
with fewer than five staff were described as not being fully proficient (compared with five 
to six per cent for all other sizebands). 
Sectoral patterns are largely similar to 2011. As previously, skills gaps are particularly 
prevalent in the Hotels and Restaurants industry (21 per cent of employers in this sector 
report skills gaps and nine per cent of staff are deemed not fully proficient), whilst those 
operating in the Agriculture sector are the least likely to face internal skills deficiencies 
(nine per cent of employers). 
The sector where there has been the most notable change is the Financial Services 
sector, where the proportion of staff described as lacking proficiency has doubled from 
four per cent to eight per cent. At the same time, there has been a slight fall in the 
proportion of employers in this sector reporting skills gaps, from 21 per cent in 2011 to 19 
per cent in 2013. As such, where Financial Services employers do now experience skills 
gaps, they are considerably more concentrated than previously.  
Table A.3.1 in Annex A provides a detailed breakdown of the incidence, number and 
density of skills gaps by size of establishment and sector. 
 

 
40 
3.2.2 The occupational distribution of skills gaps 
At an overall level, trends by occupation are very similar to in 2011, with skills gaps 
continuing to be concentrated in specific pockets. People employed in what are 
traditionally described as unskilled or semi-skilled occupations, namely those in 
Elementary and Sales and Customer Service positions, remain the most likely to have 
skills gaps. As shown in Table 3.2, eight per cent of staff in Sales and Customer Services 
occupations and seven per cent of those in Elementary positions are reported as lacking 
full proficiency (these patterns are in line with the findings in 2011) 
Conversely, those in the most highly skilled occupations, namely Managers and 
Professionals, are the least likely to be described as having skills gaps (three per cent 
and almost four per cent respectively), again closely mirroring the occupational picture in 
2011. 
Table 3.2:  Number and density of skills gaps by occupation (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
 
Number of staff not fully 
proficient (skills gaps) 
% of staff reported 
as having skills 
gaps  
 
 
 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
base 
2011 
Unwtd 
base  
2013 
 
 
% 
% 
UK 
86,522 
91,279 
1,485,500 
1,409,900 
5.5 
5.2 
Occupation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Managers 
82,426 
87,946 
161,300 
146,200 
3.2 
3.0 
Professionals 
16,337 
17,407 
129,800 
120,700 
4.2 
3.8 
Associate Professionals 13,731 
12,577 
89,900 
83,400 
4.9 
5.3 
Administrative and 
Clerical  
50,656 
53,759 
169,100 
165,500 
4.9 
4.9 
Skilled Trades  
20,507 
23,644 
101,300 
105,600 
5.4 
5.5 
Caring, Leisure and 
Other services  
12,712 
14,017 
124,500 
133,300 
5.4 
4.8 
Sales and Customer 
Service 
26,739 
27,417 
289,500 
283,000 
8.3 
7.8 
Machine Operatives 
13,369 
14,059 
115,500 
99,600 
6.0 
5.4 
Elementary occupations 30,609 
32,192 
304,500 
272,600 
7.6 
7.3 
Base: All establishments with staff in each occupation. 
Percentages are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; figures therefore show the number 
of skills gaps as a proportion of all employment in each occupation. 
Note: The number of employees not fully proficient has been rounded to the nearest 100. 
 

 
41 
Drilling down to occupations within specific sectors where a large proportion of skills gaps 
exist yields a more detailed picture of employers’ experience of skills lacking. 
Figure 3.1 shows skills gap density by sector, occupation, and occupations within sectors. 
Highlighted in blue are occupations within a sector where skills gaps density is at least 10 
per cent.  
As witnessed previously, pockets of deficiency are most acute in “lower level” 
occupations. 
Two sectors also stand out as experiencing high skills gap densities across multiple 
occupations, namely: 
 
Hotels and Restaurants: Sales and Customer Services, Machine Operatives and 
Elementary occupations; and 
 
Financial Services – Sales and Customer Services and Elementary occupations. 
 
 

 
42 
Figure 3.1  Density of skills gaps by sector, occupation and occupation within sector 
 
Tables A.3.2 and A.3.3 in Annex A provide detailed breakdowns of skills gap density by 
occupation within country and sector respectively. 
 
 
Financial services
= density 10% or above
= density between 5% and 9%
= density between 1% and 4%
Figures only shown where base greater than 50
3.8%
4.0%
4.4%
4.4%
4.4%
4.7%
4.8%
5.0%
5.1%
5.8%
5.8%
7.3%
8.1%
8.9%
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Business 
Services
Transport & 
Comms
Community 
Social activities
Electricity, Gas 
& Water
Construction
Public 
Administration
Health & 
Social Work
Hotels & 
Restaurants
Wholesale & 
Retail
Education
Financial
Services
Mining &
Quarrying
Skilled Trades 
occupations

 
43 
3.3 
The causes of skills gaps 
Skills gaps most commonly result from staff being new to the role (either because they 
have recently started the job or have been promoted to a higher level role) and, related to 
this, training only being partially completed. Respectively, 62 per cent and 57 per cent of 
all skills gaps are attributed, at least in part, to these reasons. These factors are both 
(predominantly) transient, that is to say you would expect skills gaps resulting from these 
causes to be eliminated once staff have settled into their new roles and/or existing 
training has been completed. Three-quarters (75 per cent) of all skills gaps are attributed, 
at least partially11, to one of these causes; but only four per cent of employers with skill 
gaps report that all of these gaps are transient gaps, wholly and solely attributable to one 
of these factors. 
Two other factors relating to training, namely training proving ineffective and staff not 
receiving the appropriate training, are also relatively common causes, attributed to 39 per 
cent and 29 per cent of skills gaps respectively. 
A perceived lack of staff motivation is reported by employers to be an underlying factor 
for around two in five skills gaps (42 per cent), rising to 61 per cent in Northern Ireland 
and 52 per cent in Wales. 
Around a quarter of skills gaps (26 per cent) result from an inability to recruit 
appropriately skilled individuals (rising to 31 per cent in Northern Ireland and 35 per cent 
in Wales), and approaching one in five (18 per cent) arise from retention difficulties (rising 
to 24 per cent in Wales). Table A.3.9 in Annex A details the proportion of employers who 
reported having either a skill-shortage vacancy or skills gaps amongst their present 
workforce. 
The main causes of staff not being fully proficient by nation are presented in Table 3.3. 
The figures show what proportions of skills gaps are caused by the various factors 
reported by employers. Respondents could give more than one cause for skills gaps 
within each occupation. 
 
 
                                                 
11 It should be noted that employers were able to give multiple responses to this question. As such, although 75 per cent of 
skills gaps were at least in part due to transient issues, this does not imply that just 25 per cent relate to longer-term issues. 

 
44 
Table 3.3:  Main causes of skills gaps (prompted), by nation  
 
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Unweighted base 
20,228 
16,563 
733 
1,713 
1,219 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Staff are new to the role 
62 
62 
64 
60 
63 
Their training is currently only 
partially completed 
57 
58 
49 
56 
47 
Staff lack motivation 
42 
41 
61 
39 
52 
They have been on training 
but their performance has not 
improved sufficiently 
39 
38 
54 
39 
47 
The introduction of new 
working practices 
32 
31 
48 
34 
29 
Staff have not received the 
appropriate training 
29 
29 
29 
27 
27 
Unable to recruit staff with the 
required skills 
26 
25 
31 
27 
35 
The development of new 
products and services 
21 
20 
30 
22 
21 
The introduction of new 
technology 
20 
20 
27 
24 
20 
Problems retaining staff 
18 
17 
17 
17 
24 
Summary: New to role and/or 
training incomplete 
75 
75 
78 
76 
74 
Base: All establishments with skills gaps; up to two skills gaps followed up. 
Percentages shown as a proportion of all skills gaps followed up rather than all establishments with skills 
gaps. Figures therefore show the proportion of skills gaps in each nation caused by each stated reason.  
Table A.3.4 in Annex A provides a breakdown of skills gaps causes by occupation. Of 
particular note, skills gaps are most likely to be attributed to staff not receiving the 
appropriate training among Managers (34 per cent, compared with 22 to 27 per cent in all 
other occupations). 
3.4 
Skills lacking internally 
Employers reporting skills gaps were read a list of types of skills and asked, for each 
occupation where they reported that some staff lacked full proficiency, which skills were 
lacking. Table 3.4 again shows results based on the total number of skills gaps (as 
opposed to establishments). 
Close to three in five employees (58 per cent) described by their employers as not fully 
proficient were reported to be lacking the requisite technical, practical or job-specific 
skills. These were also the most commonly cited skills lacking in 2011. 

 
45 
Although the hierarchy of skills lacking is broadly similar to in 2011, it should be noted 
that the distance has narrowed between technical/practical/job-specific skills and a 
number of other key skills such as planning and organisation, team working and customer 
handling. Indeed, in Wales, for example, planning/organisation and team working skills 
are more likely to be reported as lacking (57 and 56 per cent respectively) than 
technical/practical/job-specific skills (48 per cent)12.  
Table 3.4  Skills lacking among staff with skills gaps followed up, by nation  
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Unweighted base 
20,228 
16,563 
733 
1,713 
1,219 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Technical, practical or 
job-specific 
58 
57 
64 
63 
48 
Planning and organisation 
57 
57 
52 
60 
57 
Team working 
54 
53 
65 
51 
56 
Customer handling 
50 
52 
46 
48 
38 
Problem solving 
49 
49 
50 
47 
51 
Oral communication 
47 
48 
39 
46 
40 
Written communication 
36 
36 
33 
31 
43 
Basic computer literacy / 
using IT 
26 
25 
30 
28 
36 
Strategic Management 
25 
25 
27 
21 
19 
Literacy 
25 
24 
25 
21 
35 
Advanced IT or software 
23 
22 
23 
24 
31 
Numeracy 
23 
23 
23 
16 
33 
Foreign language 
12 
12 
13 
11 
19 
Oral Welsh language 
skills 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
28 
Written Welsh Language 
Skills 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
27 
Base: All establishments with skills gaps; up to two skills gaps followed up 
Percentages shown as a proportion of all skills gaps followed up rather than all establishments with skills 
gaps. Figures therefore show the proportion of skills gaps in each nation caused by each stated reason.  
Questions about Welsh Language skills were not asked in England, Northern Ireland or Scotland. 
                                                 
12 It should be noted that for the 2011 study ‘Technical or practical skills’ and ‘Job specific skills’ were two discrete 
categories.  

 
46 
Table A.3.5 in Annex A provides an occupational breakdown of skills lacking among staff 
with skills gaps. The two skills most frequently cited as lacking are common across most 
occupational groups (technical/practical/job-specific and planning/organisation skills 
respectively affect 42 to 69 per cent and 44 to 63 per cent of non-proficient staff in each 
occupation). As would be expected though, certain other skills are more acutely 
associated with a single occupational group. One example is strategic management skills 
being a particular issue for Managers, lacking in 54 per cent of Managers that have skills 
gaps in contrast to between 15 and 29 per cent for other occupations. Another is, a lack 
of team working skills, which is most commonly attributed to Caring, Leisure and Other 
services staff and Elementary occupations (64 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, 
compared with 40 to 56 per cent across all other occupations). 
3.5 
The impact of skills gaps 
Around two in five employers with skills gaps (37 per cent) report these having no 
tangible impact on the establishment’s performance; a slightly lower proportion reported 
this being the case than in 2011 (39 per cent). 
However, 16 per cent of employers with skills gaps said these have a major impact on 
performance, with approximately half (48 per cent) feeling it has a minor impact. These 
figures are also in line with 2011, when 15 per cent of employers with skills gaps reported 
that these had a major impact and 46 per cent a minor impact. Overall, 63 per cent of 
employers with skills gaps report these impacting upon performance (rising to 69 per cent 
in Northern Ireland). This equates to 10 per cent of all employers having skills gaps at the 
time of the interview which were negatively affecting their business performance. 
The four per cent of employers with skill gaps who report having solely ‘transient’ skills 
gaps (i.e. skills gaps resulting from staff being new to the role and/or training only being 
partially completed) are significantly less likely to report that skills gaps have an impact 
on performance: two in five of them (41 per cent) state that these have an effect on how 
the establishment performs. In contrast, seven in ten employers (69 per cent) citing other 
reasons for skills gaps13 report that these impact on business performance. 
Just as skill-shortage vacancies most commonly impact on other, existing staff, so do 
skills gaps. Approximately half of employers with skills gaps (53 per cent) report that 
these result in an increased workload for others in the workforce; this is a higher 
proportion than in 2011 (49 per cent). There is relatively little variation by nation (ranging 
from 52 to 56 per cent).  This proportion falls to 30 per cent among those solely reporting 
transient skills gaps.  
                                                 
13 either exclusively or in addition to transient skills gaps 

 
47 
While it is sometimes possible for an increased workload to be absorbed by other staff, 
some employers will need to pay for overtime or bring in temporary staff to cover the 
work. Overall 26 per cent of employers with skills gaps reported that these had resulted in 
increased operating costs (broadly in line with the 28 per cent of employers reporting this 
in 2011). 
Difficulties in meeting quality standards or introducing new working practices were each 
adverse consequences for around a quarter of employers reporting internal skills 
deficiencies (26 per cent and 25 per cent respectively). Around a fifth of those with skills 
gaps (21 per cent) reported that they had lost business or orders to competitors as a 
consequence of experiencing these skills gaps. 
Table 3.5  
Impact of skills gaps (prompted), by nation  
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Unweighted base 
20,228 
16,563 
733 
1,713 
1,219 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Increased workload for other 
staff 
53 
52 
56 
56 
54 
Have higher operating costs 
26 
26 
28 
27 
28 
Have difficulties meeting quality 
standards 
26 
26 
29 
27 
25 
Have difficulties introducing new 
working practices 
25 
24 
30 
25 
28 
Lose business or order to 
competitors  
21 
21 
19 
20 
23 
Delay developing new products 
or services 
17 
16 
20 
18 
17 
Outsource work 
10 
10 
14 
9 
10 
No impact 
37 
37 
31 
36 
36 
Any impact 
63 
63 
69 
64 
64 
Base: All establishments with skills gaps 
3.6 
Employer response to skills gaps 
The majority of employers (86 per cent) identifying skills gaps among their workforce 
have taken measures to improve the proficiency of these employees, with a further six 
per cent planning to do so in the future. For around one in twelve (eight per cent), 
however, no action has been taken and no plans are in place to tackle these issues. 
Encouragingly, since 2011, there has been a marked rise in the proportion of employers 
with skills gaps that have taken action to tackle the issue (86 per cent in 2013 in contrast 
to 76 per cent in 2011). 

 
48 
Approximately two-thirds of employers with skills gaps among their workforce have either 
increased the amount of training they provide or increased the amount they spend on 
training (68 per cent). 
The next most common responses to skills gaps involve increasing supervision (60 per 
cent), reviews and/or mentoring (51 per cent), thereby broadly using the experience of 
existing staff to oversee and assist those lacking skills. 
The hierarchy of actions taken remains the same as in 2011, though the proportion of 
employers undertaking each has increased and there is a suggestion that employers are 
looking to other responses than training to resolve skill gaps, perhaps reflecting 
pressures to constrain spending.  
 
Figure 3.2:  Actions taken to overcome skills gaps (prompted) 
 
Table A.3.6 in Annex A provides a breakdown of actions taken to tackle skills gaps by 
country. Of particular note here is that employers in Northern Ireland with skills gaps are 
less likely to have taken any action, 77 per cent have done so in comparison with the UK 
average of 86 per cent. Employers in Northern Ireland are also considerably less likely to 
have increased training-related activities more specifically (58 per cent in contrast with 
the UK average of 68 per cent). 
 
 

 
49 
3.7 
Skills deficiencies among existing staff and when recruiting  
The previous chapter examined skill shortages encountered when recruiting and this one 
has explored skills gaps among the existing workforce.  
The reality of the labour market is that there may be a good deal of substitution between 
these two measures of labour market deficiency. Some employers when faced with 
inadequate applicants will leave the vacancy unfilled, in which case the issue reveals 
itself as a skill-shortage vacancy, other employers may feel it is better to recruit someone 
who is not appropriately skilled; in which case the deficiency will reveal itself as a skills 
gap.  
Overall, 18 per cent of establishments were suffering from either form of skills deficiency 
(compared with 19 per cent in 2011), including one per cent suffering from both (the 
same proportion as in 2011). As previously, establishments that experience both are 
more likely to be larger and reporting a larger number of vacancies. 
3.8 
Under-use of skills  
As well as shortages of skills in the available labour market and/or among the existing 
workforce, employers can experience a skills imbalance when the skills held by 
individuals are not fully deployed in the workplace. We refer to this in this report as 
‘under-use of skills’ (though the phenomenon is sometimes referred to elsewhere as 
‘over-skilling’, ‘over-qualification’ and/or ‘under-employment’).  In UKCESS 2013, ‘under-
use of skills’ was measured by asking employers how many staff, if any, had both 
qualifications and skills that are more advanced than required for their current job role. 
3.8.1 The prevalence of under-use of skills  
Across the UK, approaching half of all establishments (48 per cent) report having some 
employees with both qualifications and skills that are more advanced than required for 
their current job role. In volume terms, 4.3 million workers or 16 per cent of the workforce 
have under-utilised skills. That is to say, the under-use of skills affects a considerably 
larger proportion of employers and of the workforce than skills deficiencies do.  
As Table 3.6 illustrates, these figures are virtually unchanged at the UK level since 2011 
when 48 per cent of establishments reported skills under-use and there were 4.2 million 
workers with both qualifications and skills at a more advanced level than demanded by 
their job role (15 per cent of the workforce). 
Employers in England are less likely to report that their employees skills are under-used 
than employers in the rest of the UK, and there was no change in the figures between 
2011 and 2013.  

 
50 
Outside of England, among employers based in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland 
there has been considerable movement. In the former two nations, there has been a 
marked increase in both the proportion of employers reporting under-use of skills and in 
the proportion of the workforce which is underused. In Scotland, there has been a marked 
decrease in the proportion of employers reporting that some staff are under-used, 
although the proportion of the workforce affected has remained the same.  
Table 3.6  Incidence, number and density of staff who are both over-qualified and over-
skilled by country (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
 
% of establishments 
reporting skills under-use 
% of staff reported as 
being over-qualified and 
over-skilled 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
base 
2011 
Unwtd 
base 
2013 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
UK 
86,522 
45,644 
48 
48 
15 
16 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
74,156 
37,559 
47 
47 
15 
15 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
2,015 
44 
49 
15 
18 
Scotland 
2,487 
3,044 
57 
51 
17 
17 
Wales 
5,958 
3,026 
45 
50 
13 
21 
Base: Columns one and two all establishments; columns three and four all employment. 
Reflecting patterns witnessed in 2011, the incidence of skills under-use is broadly 
consistent by establishment size. However, the proportion of staff described as being 
over-qualified and over-skilled is considerably higher amongst smaller establishments, 
notably those with 2-4 employees, where 30 per cent of staff are considered over-skilled 
and over-qualified. This is likely to reflect the more ‘hands-on’ roles that many senior staff 
take on in smaller establishments and fewer formal opportunities for progression and 
promotion, as well as a greater awareness of qualifications and skills levels in 
establishments with fewer staff. 
On a sectoral basis, as in 2011, incidence and density of skills under-use are greatest in 
the Hotels and Restaurants sector (60 per cent and 24 per cent respectively), a sector 
typically characterised by lower skills requirements though employing relatively large 
numbers of people with higher-level qualifications. 
Conversely, in the Public Administration and Manufacturing sectors, staff are 
considerably less likely to be considered over-skilled and over-qualified (nine per cent 
and 10 per cent respectively). 

 
51 
Table A.3.7 in Annex A provides a detailed breakdown of the incidence, number and 
density of staff who are both over-qualified and over-skilled by size of establishment and 
by sector. 
3.9 
Upskilling   
Having considered the under-use of skills, this chapter now turns to the notion of 
‘upskilling’, that is to say where employers anticipate that staff will need to acquire new 
skills over the coming year, as a result of a variety of internal and external factors14.  
3.9.1 The prevalence of upskilling needs  
Seven in ten employers (71 per cent) expect that at least some of their staff will need to 
acquire new skills or knowledge over the next twelve months. 
Although in some cases this is likely to reflect a dynamic environment of fast-changing 
skills needs (i.e. while current skill levels may be sufficient, over the next 12 months these 
skills will become outdated), it is often likely to reflect that, for many employers, staff that 
they classify as proficient still have plenty of scope to add to their skill set. 
The larger the establishment the more likely they are to anticipate an upskilling need over 
the next 12 months, rising from two-thirds (65 per cent) of those with fewer than five staff 
to nine in ten employers (90 per cent) of those with at least 250 employees. 
Employers reporting current skills gaps are more likely than average to expect that some 
of their staff will need to acquire new skills or knowledge over the coming year (83 per 
cent), though still 69 per cent of those who report that all their staff are fully proficient 
anticipate an upskilling need. 
Between two in five and half of all employers reported a need to upskill because of new 
legislative or regulatory requirements (46 per cent), the introduction of new 
technologies/equipment (44 per cent), the development of new products and services (43 
per cent), and/or the introduction of new working practices (42 per cent). Approaching a 
third also felt that the need to upskill would arise as a result of competitive pressure (31 
per cent). 
As illustrated in Table 3.7, there are relatively few differences by country, though 
employers in Scotland and Wales are slightly more likely to attribute upskilling needs to 
new legislative or regulatory requirements (51 per cent in each case) than those in 
England and Northern Ireland (45 per cent and 47 per cent respectively). 
                                                 
14 Further information documenting UKCES’ long term forecasts of labour market demands can be found in Working 
Futures http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/working-futures 

 
52 
Table 3.7: Whether expect employees will need to acquire new skills or knowledge in the 
next 12 months, and the reasons for this (prompted), by country 
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Unweighted base: 
45,644 
37,559 
2,015 
3,044 
3,026 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Expect employees to 
need to acquire new 
skills / knowledge 
71 
70 
72 
74 
72 
New legislative or 
regulatory requirements  
46 
45 
47 
51 
51 
The introduction of new 
technologies or equipment  
44 
44 
47 
46 
46 
The development of new 
products and services 
43 
43 
40 
44 
45 
The introduction of new 
working practices 
42 
42 
43 
45 
45 
Increased competitive 
pressure 
31 
31 
32 
30 
31 
Base: All establishments in Module 2  
 
 

 
53 
3.9.2 Occupations most affected by the need for upskilling 
Employers anticipating the need for staff to acquire new skills or knowledge were asked 
which single occupation would be most affected. Four in ten establishments that employ 
staff in Professional occupations (40 per cent) anticipate these staff being their priority in 
terms of the need to acquire new skills in the next 12 months, and a similar proportion (37 
per cent) anticipate the need for their Caring, Leisure and Other services staff to acquire 
new skills. In contrast, just 12 per cent of establishments employing Administrative and 
Clerical staff and 14 per cent employing Elementary staff foresee a priority need for these 
staff to acquire new skills or knowledge in the coming year. Tables A.3.10 and A.3.10a in 
Annex A provide a comparison of this measure by country.  
Figure 3.3  Single occupation most affected by the need for upskilling  
 
 
 
 
32%
40%
29%
12%
31%
37%
29%
21%
14%
Managers
Professional
occupations
Associate
professionals
Administrative
Skilled trades
Caring and Leisure
Sales and
customer service
Process, plant and
machine
operatives
Elementary
Base: All establishments who employ staff in each occupation (Module 2)
Base:
(44,018)
(8,739)
(6,268)
(26,945)
(11,811)
(6,973)
(13,690)
(7,002)
(16,100)

 
54 
3.9.3 Upskilling: skills that need improving or updating  
Across all occupational groups, the skills that are most likely to need improving or 
updating are technical, practical and job-specific skills: this was identified by 57 per cent 
of employers who said that they needed to upskill over the next 12 months. 
Following technical, practical and job-specific skills, planning and organisation skills were 
reported by 44 per cent of employers needing to upskill staff over the coming year. A 
number of other skill areas were then mentioned by around a third: problem solving skills 
(35 per cent), advanced IT skills (34 per cent), team working skills (32 per cent) customer 
handling skills (31 per cent), and strategic management skills (31 per cent). Broadly 
speaking the order of the skills needing improving over the coming 12 months is similar to 
that for where employers report existing skill gaps (see Table 3.4). It is notably however 
that improving advanced IT skills appears a particular priority for the coming 12 months in 
the sense of it being one of the most commonly mentioned priorities for the coming year, 
but a relatively infrequently mentioned existing skills gap.  
Figure 3.4  Skills which need improving or updating in the next 12 months (prompted) 
 
Table A.3.8 in Annex A provides an occupational breakdown of the skills cited in 
connection with upskilling needs. 
 
 
10%
12%
13%
18%
22%
24%
31%
31%
32%
34%
35%
44%
57%
Foreign language skills
Literacy skills
Numeracy skills
Written communication skills
Oral communication skills
Basic computer literacy / using IT
Strategic management skills
Customer handling skills
Team working skills
Advanced IT or software skills
Problem solving skills
Planning and organising skills
Technical, practical or job specific skills
Base: All establishments who anticipate a need to upskill staff in next 12 months 
excluding those where main occupation is not known (32,630)

 
55 
3.10 
Conclusions 
Although the vast majority of establishments consider their entire workforce to be 
proficient, 1.4 million employees are nonetheless regarded as not being fully proficient in 
their job roles, equating to 5.2 per cent of the total UK workforce. 
As with skill-shortage vacancies, skills gaps continue to be concentrated in certain 
pockets of the economy. People employed in what are traditionally described as unskilled 
or semi-skilled occupations – namely those in Elementary and Sales and Customer 
Service positions – remain the most likely to have skills gaps. Sectorally, skills gaps are 
particularly prevalent in the Hotels and Restaurants industry. 
Encouragingly, since 2011, there has been a marked rise in the proportion of employers 
with skills gaps that have taken action to tackle them, though there is still scope for more 
widespread, targeted responses to address these issues. 
At the same time, 4.3 million workers (16 per cent of the workforce) are reported as 
having under-used skills; harnessing these latent capabilities could clearly yield wide-
ranging benefits for some employers. 
Looking to future skills needs, establishments that employ staff in Professional and 
Caring and Leisure occupations anticipate these staff being their priority in terms of the 
need to acquire new skills. This presents a particular challenge, however, insofar as 
these are both occupations in which it is relatively more difficult for employers to find 
suitably skilled candidates for new positions. As such, this puts an onus on training to 
develop the skills of existing staff (rather than recruitment of new employees) as the most 
appropriate and effective solution. 
 
 

 
56 
4 
Training and Workforce Development 
4.1 
Summary 
Most employers fund or arrange training for their staff: two-thirds had done so over the 
previous 12 months (66 per cent), a figure in line with 2011 (65 per cent). While most 
employers could be described as being in ‘training equilibrium’ having been able to 
provide all the training that they wanted over the previous 12 months, over two-fifths of all 
employers (42 per cent, including non-trainers that had not delivered any) wanted to 
provide more training than they had been able to do. By far the most common reason that 
some employers do not provide training is that they believe all their staff to be fully 
proficient in their roles.  
There have been some notable changes since 2011 in the nature of training activity 
conducted. There is evidence of more employers providing off-the-job training, and 
training being more widely offered across the workforce. More employers have arranged 
any off-the-job training (49 per cent compared to 47 per cent in 2011) and fewer have 
only offered on-job training (17 per cent compared to 19 per cent in 2011); and the 
proportion of staff trained over the previous 12 months has risen substantially from 55 per 
cent to 62 per cent.  
On the other hand, each person trained received fewer days training over the last 12 
months in 2013 than in 2011 (an average of 6.7 days compared with 7.8 days in 2011), 
meaning that the total number of training days employers had provided over the previous 
12 months has decreased slightly since 2011 (from 115 million to 113 million days).  
Moreover, total employer investment in training decreased by around five per cent or just 
short of £2½ billion in the period 2011 to 2013 (from £45.3bn to £42.9bn). Training 
investment per person trained fell by 17 per cent from around £3,075 in 2011 to £2,550 in 
2013, although this was in the context of a significant increase in the number of 
employees receiving training. 
In the context of tightened economic circumstances, it is not unreasonable for employers 
to seek to invest more widely in training. Although training spend and the numbers of 
days spent training are slightly down across the UK as a whole, this has been achieved in 
combination with an increase in the number of staff trained, an increase in the ratio of off-
the-job to on-the-job training (a crude measure of the quality of training) and an increase 
in the proportion of training that leads to a recognised qualification. This could suggest a 
more efficient allocation of resource to partially offset a relatively modest cut in the level 
of overall spend. 

 
57 
There is some variation in training activity by country: Employers in Scotland were the 
most likely to have funded or arranged any training in the previous 12 months (70 per 
cent) and those in Wales the least likely (62 per cent). Employers in Scotland also trained 
a greater proportion of their workforce (65 per cent) than employers elsewhere in the UK 
(this was the case in 2011 also); employers in Northern Ireland trained the lowest 
proportion of their workforce (59 per cent).  
4.2 
Introduction 
Training is widely recognised as a key means to improving skills and thereby to 
maintaining and improving competitiveness and stimulating economic growth. Indeed in 
the previous chapter, we saw that increasing training activity was the most common 
employer response to attempt to tackle skill gaps among their workforce. This chapter 
examines trends in employer training activity since 2011. It examines which employers 
fund or arrange training and development for their employees, the types of training 
provided and which employees they provide it for. It also explores the reasons employers 
give for not providing training and development for their staff, and the barriers to 
employers providing more training than they currently do. The final section of the chapter 
looks at employer expenditure on training: results for this aspect of the research are 
derived from the Investment in Training follow-up study with a proportion of the UKCESS 
2013 sample (see the accompanying Technical Report for details of the methodology). 
Throughout the chapter we discuss the training or development provided by employers in 
terms of: 
 
Off-the-job training or development: training undertaken away from the individual’s 
immediate work position, whether on the employer’s premises or elsewhere; 
 
On-the-job or informal training and development: activities that would be 
recognised as training by staff, and not the sort of learning by experience which could 
take place all the time. 
Time series for the headline training measures by country can be found in Annex B. 
4.3 
Incidence of training and workforce development 
Two-thirds of employers (66 per cent) had arranged or funded off- or on-the-job training 
or development for any of their staff in the previous 12 months. Similar proportions had 
provided off-the-job as on-the-job training (49 per cent and 52 per cent respectively), with 
just over a third providing both (35 per cent of all employers).  

 
58 
While the proportion providing any training or development is in line with results in 2011 
(65 per cent), there has been an increase in the proportion providing any off-the-job 
training over the previous 12 months (49 per cent from 47 per cent in 2011) and a fall in 
the proportion providing any on-the-job (52 per cent in 2013 compared with 53 per cent in 
2011) and only providing on-the-job training (17 per cent from 19 per cent in 2011). 
Figure 4.1  Training provision over the last 12 months  
 
Employers in Scotland were the most likely to report having funded or arranged any 
training in the previous 12 months (70 per cent) and those in Wales and Northern Ireland 
the least likely (62 per cent and 63 per cent respectively). Despite employers in Scotland 
being the most likely to have provided training in the 2013 survey (as they were in 2011), 
the proportion providing training over the last 12 months was lower than in 2011 (73 per 
cent). 
The likelihood of providing training increases with employer size, and is almost universal 
in establishments with 25 or more staff (93 per cent among those with 25-99 staff and 97 
per cent among those with 100 or more employees). Among the very smallest sites 
employing 2-4 staff just over half had provided any training (52 per cent), rising to three-
quarters (77 per cent) among those with 5 to 24 staff. 
66%
66%
63%
70%
62%
49%
48%
49%
53%
47%
52%
52%
47%
57%
48%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
UK
England
Northern
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Train
Train off-the-job
Train on-the-job
Base : All establishments (as shown)
17%
17%
17%
15%
14%
Boxed figures = 
percentage providing on-
the-job training ONLY
(91,279)
(75,255)
(4,014)
(6,014)
(5,996)

 
59 
As in 2011, employers in Education, Public Administration, and Health and Social Work 
were the most likely to provide any training (92, 90 and 89 per cent respectively), and 
those in Agriculture the least likely (50 per cent). 
More data on the incidence of training, and how this varies by country, size and sector, 
and between 2011 and 2013, can be found in Table A.4.1 in Annex A. 
Among employers that funded or arranged any training over the last 12 months three-
quarters (74 per cent) provided off-the-job training. While overall a quarter of employers 
that train provided only on-the-job training (26 per cent), this was much higher among the 
smallest employers (31 per cent of trainers with 2-4 staff), and those operating in 
Wholesale and Retail (34 per cent) and Hotels and Restaurants (37 per cent). 
4.4 
Other wider activity to aid the development of staff 
In addition to ‘formal’ on- or off-the-job training, employers can develop their staff in more 
informal ways. Employers were asked whether they had undertaken three specific 
activities in the last 12 months to aid the development of employees: supervision to guide 
employees through their job role; providing staff with opportunities to spend time learning 
through watching others perform their role; and allowing staff to perform tasks that go 
beyond their strict job role and providing feedback on how well they have done. 
The vast majority of employers (85 per cent) had provided at least one of these wider 
development opportunities for their staff in the last 12 months (markedly lower at 76 per 
cent among the smallest sites with fewer than five staff, but above nine in ten for all other 
size of employer). A majority of employers had undertaken each of the three development 
activities, indicating that employers generally use a suite of activities to meet their 
development needs. The likelihood of providing wider development activities closely 
matches the pattern for providing training and development, and is higher than average 
among employers in Scotland, larger employers, and those in Education, Public 
Administration and Health and Social Work. Data on how provision of wider development 
activities differs by country, sector and size of employer both in 2013 and 2011, and the 
nature of the development activity, is provided in Table A.4.2 in Annex A.  
While most of the employers providing any of these wider development opportunities also 
deliver more formal training, almost a quarter of all employers (23 per cent) did not 
provide formal training but did provide some of these wider development opportunities. 
Overall almost nine in ten employers (89 per cent) either funded or arranged on- or off-
the-job training or provided wider development opportunities. 

 
60 
One in nine employers (11 per cent) neither train nor offer any of the wider development 
opportunities discussed in the survey. The vast majority of these are small employers 
with fewer than five staff: among employers of this size 18 per cent neither train nor offer 
these development opportunities. Employers in Agriculture and Construction were also 
more likely than average to neither train nor offer these wider development opportunities 
(24 per cent and 18 per cent respectively). 
Although there has been no change in the incidence of training in 2013 compared to 
2011, the proportion offering any of the three wider development activities in 2013 (85 per 
cent) has increased compared to 2011 (82 per cent), particularly for supervision guiding 
employees through their job role over time (up five percentage points from 2011 to 2013). 
4.5 
Barriers and limits on training 
Some employers choose not to provide any workforce development for their staff. This 
section explores the extent to which such decisions relate to demand (such as there 
being no perceived need) and the extent to which they reflect issues of supply (pricing, 
availability, accessibility etc.). From this perspective, employers who had not funded or 
arranged any training were asked why they had not done so. 
By far the main reason for employers not providing any training over the previous 12 
months is low perceived demand, particularly the view that all their staff are fully proficient 
(69 per cent). Low demand is also reflected in non-trainers saying training is not or has 
not been a priority for the organisation (seven per cent). Managers being too busy to 
organise training (three per cent), and employees being too busy to attend training (two 
per cent) or to deliver training (two per cent) were also responses indicative of low 
demand to the extent that training is clearly treated as a lower priority than more pressing 
day-to-day issues.  
One in ten non-trainers said the reason for not training was their having no money 
available for training (10 per cent, rising to 17 per cent among non-trainers in the charity / 
voluntary sector). 
Perceived poor supply of training was infrequently given as the reason for not training: 
 
Five per cent of non-trainers said training was not available in the subject area they 
wanted; 
 
Two per cent described training as too expensive; 
 
One per cent of non-trainers said the courses they were interested in were not 
available locally. 

 
61 
More data on the reasons for not providing training can be found in Table A.4.3 in Annex 
A. 
Approaching half of employers (47 per cent) that train would have liked to provide more 
training over the last 12 months than they were able to fund or arrange. The larger the 
size of the training employer, the more likely they were to have been limited in the 
amount of training that they were able to provide (57 per cent of trainers with 100 or more 
staff, compared with 44 per cent of those with fewer than five staff). Employers in 
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that trained were more likely than average to have 
felt limited in the training they could provide (53, 52 and 50 per cent, respectively). 
The reasons these employers give for being unable to deliver the amount of training they 
would have liked generally relate to internal issues, in particular not having the funds to 
provide more training (mentioned by 60 per cent of these employers) or not being able to 
spare the time for staff to have more time training (48 per cent, rising to 56 per cent 
among those in Scotland). Of course, both statements could be read as relating to the 
supply of training in the sense that less expensive, better value training or training 
requiring less time away from the workplace would lead to more training being 
undertaken. Issues explicitly relating to the supply of training were infrequently mentioned 
as barriers to further training. The most commonly mentioned were a difficulty finding 
training providers that can deliver training where or when they want it, and a lack of 
appropriate training / qualifications in the subject areas needed (each mentioned by four 
per cent of trainers that would have liked to deliver more training over the previous 12 
months). 
More data on the proportion of training employers that would have liked to provide more 
training over the previous 12 months, and the main barriers preventing them doing so, 
can be found in Table A.4.4 in Annex A. 

 
62 
Figure 4.2 summarises results on the proportion of all employers that would have liked to 
have undertaken more or, in the case of non-trainers any training, over the previous 12 
months15 compared with the proportion that are in ‘training equilibrium’ (having no wish to 
have undertaken more training). Overall just over two-fifths of all employers (42 per cent) 
would have liked to have undertaken more training over the previous 12 months than they 
were able to provide. The likelihood of not being in ‘training equilibrium’ (i.e. wanting to 
have undertaken more training over the previous 12 months) increases with 
establishment size (from 36 per cent among those with 2-4 staff, to around half for those 
with 5 to 99 staff, to 60 per cent among those with 100 or more staff). It was also higher 
among employers in Scotland (47 per cent, compared with 42 per cent among employers 
in England, 43 per cent among those in Wales and 45 per cent among those in Northern 
Ireland). 
Figure 4.2: Employer interest in undertaking more training over the last 12 months than 
they were able to provide 
 
Base: all establishments 91,279; establishments that train 69,842; establishments not providing training over 
the last 12 months 21,437. 
 
 
                                                 
15 Results for non-trainers have been determined from their reasons for not training, rather than a direct question. Those 
answering that they had not provided any training because training was not considered to be a priority for their 
establishment, because all their staff were fully proficient or they had no need for training were regarded as being in skills 
equilibrium and having no perceived need to undertake training. Those not giving any of these reasons were classified as 
wanting to have undertaken training. 

 
63 
4.6 
Types of training provided 
Job-specific training aimed at developing the skills of a particular occupation or job role 
was the most common type of training provided by employers (arranged by 85 per cent of 
those that train). A majority of trainers had also funded or arranged health and safety 
training including first aid (74 per cent) and / or induction training (58 per cent). The types 
of training provided by employers for the 2013 survey were very similar to 2011 (all within 
one percentage point). 
Figure 4.3  Types of training provided over the last 12 months by employers that train 
(prompted) 
 
There was quite wide variation by sector in the types of training provided over the last 12 
months. Among employers that provided training: 
 
Those in Education and Public Administration were more likely than average to have 
provided each type of training. In both these sectors the majority had provided each 
type of training other than supervisory training. 
 
There was particularly wide variation in the proportion providing management training.  
o It was higher in: Education (60 per cent), Public Administration (54 per 
cent), Health and Social Work (45 per cent), Mining and Quarrying (44 per 
cent), Financial Services (44 per cent), Wholesale and Retail (42 per cent), 
and Hotels and Restaurants (42 per cent).  
34%
35%
48%
58%
74%
85%
Supervisory training
Management training
Training in new technology
Induction training
Health and safety / first aid training
Job specific training
Base : All establishments that train (69,842)

 
64 
o Provision of any management training in the last 12 months was far lower 
than average in Agriculture (14 per cent), Construction (22 per cent), 
Transport and Communications (26 per cent) and Manufacturing (26 per 
cent)..  
More details of results by sector, as well as country and establishment size, are provided 
in Table A.4.5 in Annex A. 
4.7 
Numbers trained 
Although the proportion of employers providing training was largely unchanged from 2011 
to 2013, the number of staff receiving training has increased significantly. Around 16.8m 
staff were trained over the last 12 months, equivalent to 62 per cent of the workforce,16 up 
from 55 per cent in the 2011 survey.  
Most of the increase in 2013 has come about through larger employers training more of 
their staff than they did in 2011. The change is particularly marked among employers with 
250 or more employees: in 2011 the number of staff trained over the previous 12 months 
in these large establishments was equivalent to 54 per cent of the total workforce 
employed in this size of site. In 2013 this had increased to 71 per cent.  
The increase across the UK from 2011 to 2013 in the proportion of staff trained over the 
previous 12 months has occurred across each country, though to a much lesser extent in 
Northern Ireland, as shown in Table 4.1. Staff in Scotland were more likely than 
elsewhere in the UK to have received any training in the previous 12 months (65 per 
cent). Looking further back over time in England, the share of the workforce trained (62%) 
is now higher than the pre-recession level seen in 2009 (56%), and back to similar levels 
seen in 2005 and 2007 (Annex B). 
 
 
                                                 
16 The figure involves an element of over counting in that employers are asked about the number of staff they trained over 
the last 12 months whether or not they still work at the site. Hence someone who was trained at a site in the last 12 months 
but who left to join another employer who provided that person with training would be counted twice (if both employers 
were interviewed for the survey). 

 
65 
Table 4.1  Number of staff trained over the last 12 months and the proportion of staff 
trained by establishment size and country  
 
2011 
 
2013 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Number 
trained 
% of staff 
trained 
Unwtd 
Base 
Number 
trained 
% of staff 
trained 
UK 
86,522 
14.7m 
55 
91,279 
16.8m 
62 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
74,156 
12.3m 
54 
75,255 
14.1m 
62 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
0.4m 
56 
4,014 
0.4m 
59 
Scotland 
2,487 
1.4m 
58 
6,014 
1.5m 
65 
Wales 
5,958 
0.7m 
56 
5,996 
0.7m 
62 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
17,905 
1.0m 
40 
19,058 
1.0m 
41 
5 to 24 
47,770 
3.4m 
53 
51,565 
3.5m 
54 
25-49 
9,416 
2.0m 
59 
10,123 
2.1m 
63 
50-99 
5,416 
2.0m 
59 
5,315 
2.3m 
66 
100-249 
3,270 
2.4m 
60 
2,938 
2.7m 
68 
250+ 
1,626 
4.0m 
54 
1,187 
5.2m 
71 
Base: All establishments. 
Percentages are based on all employment rather than all establishments, figures therefore show the 
proportion of all staff within each subgroup trained over the last 12 months. 
 
There were wide differences in the proportion of staff trained by sector. Employers in 
Health and Social Work and Education trained the highest proportion of staff (80 per cent 
and 76 per cent respectively; these two sectors also trained the highest proportion of staff 
in 2011, although at much lower levels). Employers in Agriculture trained the lowest 
proportion (41 per cent; again this sector trained the lowest proportion in 2011). Results 
for the number and proportion of staff trained by sector, both in 2013 and 2011, are 
provided in Table A.4.6 in Annex A.  
By occupation, staff in Caring, Leisure and Other Services roles were the most likely to 
receive training (81 per cent of all staff in these roles were trained in the last 12 months). 
The proportion was also higher than average among Professionals and Associate 
Professionals (70 per cent and 65 per cent respectively). Those employed as Managers 
and Senior Officials were the least likely occupational group to receive training in the 
previous 12 months (50 per cent).  

 
66 
We have seen that for the 2013 survey, more staff had been trained over the previous 12 
months than was the case in 2011. As shown in Figure 4.4 this increase has occurred 
across all occupational groups, and was particularly marked for those employed in 
Caring, Leisure and Other Services roles and those working as Machine Operatives. As 
reported in chapter two, these were the two occupations with particularly large increases 
compared with 2011 in the density of skill-shortage vacancies. One hypothesis may be 
that difficulties in finding suitable recruits in these occupations have led to an increase in 
the training of existing staff in these roles. 
Figure 4.4  Proportion of staff trained over the last 12 months by occupation 2013 vs. 2011 
 
Percentages are based on all employment rather than all establishments, figures therefore show the 
proportion of all staff trained in each subgroup.  
Note: The figures for the proportion of staff trained have been calculated excluding those respondents unsure 
of the exact number of people trained and who did not know the number trained by occupation. 
4.8 
Training days 
Employers varied quite widely in terms of the average number of days training they 
provided. One in eight employers that trained (12 per cent) said on average each 
member of staff trained received one day or less training over the previous 12 months, 
while one in twelve (eight per cent) said the typical person trained received more than 20 
days. Results are similar to those found in 2011, though with fewer in 2013 providing 11 
or more days training for the average person trained (18 per cent compared with 20 per 
cent in 2011). 
47%
65%
59%
47%
56%
73%
57%
48%
49%
50%
70%
65%
52%
60%
81%
63%
57%
55%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Managers /
Senior
Officials
Professionals
Assoc.
Professionals
Admin /
clerical
Skilled
Trades
Caring,
Leisure,
Other
services
Sales &
Customer
service
Machine
operatives
Elementary
2011
2013
Base : All establishments with staff in each occupation
(87,946)
(17,407)
(12,577)
(53,759)
(23,644)
(14,017)
(27,417)
(14,059)
(32,192)

 
67 
The average number of training days differed relatively little by country: the main variation 
of note was employers that train in Northern Ireland were less likely than average to have 
provided substantial training of 11 or more days on average per person trained (15 per 
cent compared with a UK average of 18 per cent). 
There was a clear pattern by size of establishment: as in 2011, the larger the 
establishment the less likely they were to provide substantial training of 11 days or more 
on average per person trained. Among training establishments with fewer than five staff, 
19 per cent said that on average each person trained received 11 days training or more, 
and the figure was similar for those with 5 to 24 staff (18 per cent); in comparison among 
those with 250 or more staff it fell to eight per cent. 
Table A.4.7 in Annex A provides detailed findings on the range of days training provided 
by country, size and sector of employer. 
Overall the average number of days training provided to each person trained has fallen 
from just under eight days in 2011 to just under seven days in 2013. This is shown in 
Table 4.2. 
We have seen that a similar proportion of employers provided any training in 2013 as 
2011, more staff in 2013 received training in the previous 12 months, but the average 
number of training days provided to each person trained has fallen. The net effect is that 
the overall number of training days reported by employers is slightly lower in 2013 than 
2011: 113.2m training days compared with 114.6m in 2011. 
There are some country-based nuances to this aggregate picture:  
 
In England the total number of training days has fallen compared with 2011 (from c. 
97m to c. 95m, a 2.3 per cent fall). This is a result of fewer days training being 
provided to each person trained (6.7 days from 7.9 days in 2011) since the number of 
people trained actually increased (from 12.3m in 2011 to 14.1m in 2013).  
 
In Wales, there has been an increase in the total number of training days provided 
over the last 12 months by employers in 2013 compared with 2011 (5.6m days up 
from 4.9m in 2011).  
 
In Northern Ireland the total number of training days provided by employers has not 
changed since 2011, and as in 2011 those trained in Northern Ireland receive the 
fewest days training per annum (an average of 6.3 days, equivalent to 3.7 days per 
employee).  

 
68 
 
In Scotland, the total number of training days is almost unchanged (10.0m days in 
2013 compared with 9.9m in 2011), though there has been a fall in the number of 
days provided per person trained (from 7.3 in 2011 to 6.7 in 2013, a figure exactly 
matching the UK average). 
Table 4.2  Total training and development days, and days per person trained and per 
employee (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
2011 
 
2013 
 
 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
training 
days 
Days per 
person 
trained 
Days per 
employee 
 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
training 
days 
Days 
per 
person 
trained 
Days per 
employee 
UK 
66,439 
114.6m 
7.8 
4.2 
69,842 
113.2m 
6.7 
4.2 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
56,713 
97.1m 
7.9 
4.3 
57,787 
94.9m 
6.7 
4.2 
Northern 
Ireland 
2,903 
2.7m 
6.3 
3.5 
2,894 
2.7m 
6.3 
3.7 
Scotland 
2,170 
9.9m 
7.3 
4.2 
4,884 
10.0m 
6.7 
4.3 
Wales 
4,653 
4.9m 
7.5 
4.2 
4,277 
5.6m 
7.7 
4.8 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,121 
10.0m 
10.5 
4.2 
9,580 
10.6m 
10.7 
4.4 
5-24 
37,758 
30.3m 
9.0 
4.7 
40,801 
29.1m 
8.3 
4.5 
25-49 
9,416 
16.7m 
8.4 
4.9 
10,123 
15.2m 
7.3 
4.6 
50-99 
5,416 
16.2m 
8.1 
4.8 
5,315 
15.1m 
6.7 
4.4 
100-249 
3,150 
16.1m 
6.6 
4.0 
2,864 
17.4m 
6.3 
4.3 
250+ 
1,578 
25.3m 
6.4 
3.4 
1,159 
25.8m 
5.0 
3.5 
Base: All establishments that train (though ‘days per employee’ is based upon employment across 
all establishments). 
 
There is a distinctive pattern by size of establishment. 
 
The larger the site, the fewer days training are provided to each person trained; 
 
When total annual training days is converted to a ‘days per employee’ figure, this is 
lowest in the very largest sites with 250 or more employees (3.5 days), but similar for 
smaller size bands (4.3 to 4.5 days training per employee per annum).  
Results by sector for the total number of training and development days, and days per 
person trained and per employee for 2013 and 2011 can be found in Table A.4.8 in 
Annex A. These reveal: 
 
A fall in the total number of training days provided in Manufacturing (6.2m from 8.9m 
in 2011) and in Public Administration (7.4m from 9.4m in 2011); 
 
An increase in the total number of training days provided among Business Services 
employers (19.2m, up from 15.2m in 2011).  

 
69 
 
The number of days training provided to each person trained was highest, as in 2011, 
in the Hotels and Restaurants sector (an average of 9.1 days, though this is lower 
than the 11.4 days found in 2011). 
It is worth noting that the fall from 2011 to 2013 in the number of days training per annum 
provided to each person trained echoes findings reported in ‘Training in Recession: the 
impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work’ (published in September 2013)17. 
This report presented data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey showing that intensity 
of training (as measured by the hours of training in a given reference week among those 
that were trained) had fallen in the 2005 – 2010 period18, and that this was part of a 
longer term fall in training duration dating back to 1995. 
4.9 
Training to qualifications 
As well as enabling an assessment of the quantity of training provided (the number 
receiving any training and the number of days provided), the survey also provides an 
assessment of the quality of the training being provided, in particular whether the training 
provided by employers is leading to nationally recognised qualifications. 
Just under half of employers that trained over the last 12 months had funded or arranged 
any training intended to lead to a nationally recognised qualification (47 per cent, 
equivalent to 31 per cent of all employers). The figure is slightly higher than in 2011 
(when 46 per cent of employers that trained had arranged any training leading to 
nationally recognised qualifications). As in 2011 trainers in Northern Ireland were the 
least likely to have trained any staff towards nationally recognised qualifications (45 per 
cent), while those in Wales were the most likely (53 per cent). Results are shown on 
Table 4.3. 
Size is a key determinant of whether or not employers that train use nationally recognised 
qualifications. Just over a third of the smallest employers (with 2-4 staff) do so (36 per 
cent), rising to half among trainers with 5-24 staff (50 per cent), around two-thirds of 
those with 25-49 staff (63 per cent) or 50-99 staff (69 per cent) and three-quarters of 
those with 100 or more staff (76 per cent). 
                                                 
17 Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work  (UKCES, 2013), 
http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-72-training-in-recession.pdf  
18 Note, the Labour Force Survey question changed in 2011, and hence longitudinal data only exists up to 2010. 

 
70 
Relatively few employers trained any staff to Level 1 qualifications over the last 12 
months (nine per cent of those that train, equivalent to six per cent of all employers). In 
comparison, use of Level 2, 3 and 4 and above qualifications was more common (among 
employers that train 17 per cent, 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively  had used 
each, equivalent to 11, 12 and 10  per cent respectively of all employers). More 
employers in 2013 reported training to Level 4 qualifications or higher (10 per cent of all 
employers) than in 2011 (eight per cent). 
Employers in Wales were more likely to have trained any staff to each individual Level 
than employers elsewhere in the UK, and more likely to have trained staff to any 
nationally recognised qualifications in the last 12 months (53 per cent compared with 47 
per cent in England and Scotland, and 45 per cent among employers in Northern Ireland). 
Table 4.3  Training to nationally recognised qualifications over the previous 12 months 
 
2011 
2013 
 
 
2013 
 
 
 
All employers: 
Employers that train: 
 
UK 
UK 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Unweighted Base: 
86,522 
91,279 
69,842 
57,787 
2,894 
4,884 
4,277 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Establishments training 
any staff to a qualification 
30 
31 
47 
47 
45 
47 
53 
Trained any to Level 1 
6 
6 
9 
9 
10 
11 
12 
Trained any to Level 2 
10 
11 
17 
18 
15 
11 
21 
Trained any to Level 3 
11 
12 
18 
18 
15 
13 
22 
Trained any to Level 4 or 
above 
8 
10 
15 
15 
15 
15 
17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number trained to a 
qualification 
3.3m 
3.6m 
3.6m 
3.0m 
0.1m 
0.3m 
0.2m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Of staff trained, the % 
trained to a qualification 
over the last 12 months 
22% 
21% 
21% 
21% 
18% 
20% 
30% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Of all employees, % 
trained to a qualification 
over the last 12 months 
12% 
13% 
13% 
13% 
10% 
13% 
18% 
Base: Columns 1 and 2 ‘All establishments’, columns 3 to 7 ‘Establishments that train’;  
Note: The row ‘number trained to a qualification’ shows how many individuals were undertaking 
training leading to nationally recognised qualifications in the 12 months prior to interview, not how 
many staff had achieved these qualifications. 
Note also in the final row the base for the number of employees is all employers not just 
employers that train. 
 

 
71 
Overall 3.6m staff benefited from training aimed at achieving a nationally recognised 
qualification over the last 12 months. This is slightly higher than in 2011 (3.3m). A fifth (21 
per cent) of staff trained in 2012-13 received training intended to lead to a nationally 
recognised qualification, equivalent to 13 per cent of all employees. These percentages 
are within one percentage point of those found in 2011, and therefore suggest that the 
increase in the volume of training leading to qualifications is more to do with an increase 
in the number of staff being trained than any change in the proportion of those trained 
receiving this kind of training. 
As on a number of training measures, results on training to nationally recognised 
qualifications were below the UK average in Northern Ireland, and above average in 
Wales. For example, 18 per cent of all employees in Wales were trained to a nationally 
recognised qualification in the last 12 months, compared with 10 per cent in Northern 
Ireland. 
Findings on the incidence and extent of provision of training leading to qualifications by 
size and sector can be found in Table A.4.9 in Annex A. This shows that although larger 
employers that train were more likely to have trained any staff to a nationally recognised 
qualification over the previous 12 months, the proportion of all employees trained to a 
qualification varied relatively little by size of establishment. By sector, Health and Social 
Work employers that trained were the most likely to have trained any staff to a 
qualification (65 per cent), and trained the highest proportion of their workforce to 
nationally recognised qualifications (24 per cent, compared to the UK average of 13 per 
cent). 
4.10 
Investment in Training  
Employer expenditure on training and development over the previous 12 months was 
£42.9bn, equivalent to around £2,550 per person trained and just under £1,600 per 
employee. (This expenditure includes the wages of staff while being trained, and of staff 
delivering training; Table 4.5 provides a breakdown of total expenditure into constituent 
parts.) 
The pattern of training spend per person trained and per employee is inversely correlated 
with establishment size: the larger the employer the less is spent (Table 4.4). This 
appears to reflect economies of scale for larger employers. Although the smallest 
employers with fewer than five staff provide approximately twice as many training days 
per person trained as those with 100 or more employees (10.7 days per annum 
compared with 5.5 days respectively), they spend more than three and a half times as 
much per person trained per annum (£5,630 per person trained, compared with £1,570 
among employers with 100 or more staff (£1,570).  

 
72 
Results are shown on Table 4.4, with comparisons with 2011. It is worth noting that here, 
and throughout this chapter, training expenditure figures for 2011 were as reported at the 
time of the 2011 survey and have not been adjusted for inflation. 
Table 4.4  Total training expenditure and spend per person trained and per employee (2011 
vs. 2013) 
 
 
2011 
 
 
2013 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
Spend 
per 
person 
trained 
Spend per 
employee 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
Spend per 
person 
trained 
Spend per 
employee 
UK 
11,027 
£45.3bn £3,080 
£1,680 
12,522 
£42.9bn 
£2,550 
£1,590 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
7,872 
£38.6bn £3,140 
£1,700 
8,704 
£36bn 
£2,550 
£1,580 
Northern 
Ireland 
990 
£1.2bn 
£2,810 
£1,570 
1,028 
£1.1bn 
£2,540 
£1,490 
Scotland 
682 
£4bn 
£2,920 
£1,690 
1,429 
£4.2bn 
£2,800 
£1,810 
Wales 
1,483 
£1.5bn 
£2,280 
£1,280 
1,361 
£1.6bn 
£2,200 
£1,350 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,774 
£5.5bn 
£5,740 
£2,310 
2,317 
£5.5bn 
£5,630 
£2,320 
5-24 
6,542 
£11.9bn £3,550 
£1,860 
6,953 
£12.8bn 
£3,650 
£1,980 
25-49 
1,452 
£5.6bn 
£2,810 
£1,650 
1,722 
£6.5bn 
£3,080 
£1,940 
50-99 
708 
£5.9bn 
£2,930 
£1,730 
928 
£5.6bn 
£2,480 
£1,630 
100+ 
551 
£16.4bn £2,560 
£1,440 
602 
£12.5bn 
£1,570 
£1,100 
Base: Establishments completing the Investment in Training study. 
Note: The figures for spend per person trained and per employee have been rounded to the nearest £10. 
 
There is evidence of decreasing employer financial investment in training since 2011 
both in terms of total spend and spend per trainee19. In 2011 total employer investment in 
training among those with employment of two plus staff was £45.3bn20. The fall in total 
training expenditure from 2011 to 2013 is driven mainly by a fall in expenditure among: 
 
Employers in England (from £38.6bn in 2011 to £36.0bn). In contrast expenditure has 
increased slightly in nominal terms in Scotland and Wales (by £0.2bn and £0.1bn 
respectively). 
 
Large employers with 100 or more staff (from £16.4bn in 2011 to £12.5bn).  
                                                 
19 Indeed the figure for spend per person trained and per employee in England 2013 is also unchanged from that reported 
in 2005 (http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/research-data/2005nat-nationalemployersskillssurvey2005mainreport-
re-june2006.pdf), when the figures were £2,500 and £1,550 respectively. 
20 It is important to note that this figure for the 2011 survey is different (lower) to that quoted in the 2011 UK report 
(http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-11.pdf) for two reasons. First the 
UKCESS 2011 survey included some establishments that were not eligible for the 2013 survey, namely those with one 
employee and no working proprietors. Hence to make valid comparisons between 2011 and 2013, data from 2011 was re-
run excluding these establishments, and the data re-weighted. This applies to all 2011 data in this report. Second, a figure 
on the Eurostat website used to derive the total employer investment in training figure from the survey responses was 
updated subsequent to the 2011 survey, and the data presented here uses this revised figure. The revision relates to the 
figure for wages and salaries as a percentage of total labour costs, which is used to upweight wage/salary responses to the 
full costs of employing labour either being trained or providing training. At the time of the 2011 survey Eurostat was 
showing this percentage for the UK as 80.51%, but this has subsequently been revised to 85.9%. This lowers the upweight 
factor and hence lowers the total investment in training figure. 

 
73 
 
Employers in Public Administration (from £3.8bn to £2.2bn) and in Education (from 
£6.2bn to £5.3bn in 2013). This is likely to reflect tight budgetary constraints in the 
broadly defined public sector in recent years. 
Data on total investment in training, spend per person trained and spend per employee 
by sector for both 2011 and 2013 can be found in Table A.4.10 of Annex A. 
As shown in the Table 4.5, the fall in total training expenditure is also predominantly the 
result of lower expenditure on on-the-job training (from £23.6bn in 2011 to £21.6bn in 
2013), while off-the-job spending has fallen only slightly since 2011 (£21.3bn from 
£21.7bn). 
This has led to a slight change in the composition of overall training expenditure. In 2011, 
on-the-job training accounted for just over half of overall training expenditure (52 per 
cent). In 2013 there was an exactly even split in expenditure between on- and off-the-job 
training. The fact that off-the-job training accounts for a larger proportion of total 
investment in training in 2013 than in 2011 reflects the increase in the incidence of 
employers providing off-the-job training and a fall in the proportion providing on-the-job 
training discussed earlier in the chapter. 
 
 

 
74 
Table 4.5  Total training expenditure broken down by individual components (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
2011 
2013 
Unweighted Base: 
11,027 
 
12,522 
 
 
£bn 
% 
£bn 
% 
Total training expenditure 
£45.3bn 
100 
£42.9bn 
100 
Off-the-job training: total 
£21.7bn 
48 
£21.3bn 
50 
 
 
 
 
 
Off-the-job training: Course-related: 
total 
£18.1bn 
40 
£17.9bn 
42 
Trainee labour costs 
£5.1bn 
11 
£5.2bn 
12 
Fees to external providers 
£2.9bn 
6 
£2.4bn 
6 
On-site training centre 
£2.8bn 
6 
£2.7bn 
6 
Off-site training centre (in the same 
company) 
£0.6bn 
1 
£0.5bn 
1 
Training management 
£6.1bn 
13 
£6.5bn 
15 
Non-training centre equipment and 
materials 
£0.4bn 
1 
£0.4bn 
1 
Travel and subsistence 
£0.4bn 
1 
£0.4bn 
1 
Levies minus grants 
-£0.2bn 
-1 
-£0.2bn 
-1 
Off-the-job training: other (seminars, 
workshops etc.): total 
£3.6bn 
8 
£3.4bn 
8 
Trainee labour costs 
£2.5bn 
6 
£2.5bn 
6 
Fees to external providers 
£1.1bn 
2 
£0.9bn 
2 
On-the-job training: Total 
£23.6bn 
52 
£21.6bn 
50 
Trainee labour costs 
£14.8bn 
33 
£13.9bn 
32 
Trainers' labour costs 
£8.9bn 
20 
£7.7bn 
18 
Base: Establishments completing the Investment in Training study 
 
A large component of the overall training expenditure figure presented in the table above 
is the wages of staff being trained; indeed this accounts for half (50 per cent) of all 
training expenditure (similar to the 49 per cent in 2011). The wages / salaries of those 
providing on-the-job training also account for around a fifth (18 per cent) of all training 
expenditure. In comparison relatively little is spent on payments to external training 
providers (eight per cent of total investment in training, similar to the nine per cent in 
2011).  
Table 4.6 summarises results by country and by size of establishment. 
 
 

 
75 
Table 4.6: Training expenditure by country and size, the proportion spent on off-the-job 
elements, and the breakdown of total training expenditure (both on-the-job and off-the-job) 
by key elements 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Expenditure 
on training 
% spent on 
off-the-job 
training 
 
Wages of 
trainees 
Wages 
of 
trainers 
Fees to 
external 
providers 
Other 
UK 
12,522 
£42.9bn 
50 
% 
50 
18 
8 
24 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
8,704 
£36.0bn 
49 
% 
51 
18 
8 
23 
Northern 
Ireland 
1,028 
£1.1bn 
53 
% 
49 
17 
7 
29 
Scotland 
1,429 
£4.2bn 
50 
% 
49 
18 
7 
25 
Wales 
1,361 
£1.6bn 
51 
% 
43 
21 
7 
23 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
2,317 
£5.5bn 
55 
% 
38 
21 
9 
25 
5-24 
6,953 
£12.8bn 
53 
% 
43 
19 
8 
26 
25-49 
1,722 
£6.5bn 
50 
% 
50 
18 
6 
26 
50-99 
928 
£5.6bn 
46 
% 
57 
17 
8 
19 
100+ 
602 
£12.5bn 
46 
% 
61 
16 
7 
23 
Base: Establishments completing the Investment in Training study. 
The column ‘other’ includes such items as expenditure on training centres and on training management. 
 
As the size of establishment increases the proportion of total training expenditure spent 
on off-the-job training decreases. Further, as the size of establishment increases so the 
proportion of spend towards the wages/salaries of people being trained increases, while 
that towards the labour costs of trainers falls. 
The proportion of training expenditure spent on off-the-job training was higher in Northern 
Ireland than elsewhere in the UK (53 per cent). The proportion of training expenditure 
spent on off-the-job training also varies widely by sector, as follows:  
 
It was higher than average in Electricity, Gas and Water (63 per cent), Education (62 
per cent), Health and Social Work (58 per cent), Agriculture (58 per cent) and 
Community, Social and Personal Services (55 per cent); and  
 
It was much lower than average in Hotels and Restaurants (36 per cent), Wholesale 
and Retail (41 per cent), Financial Services (43 per cent) and Manufacturing (43 per 
cent). 
There is also wide variation by sector in the proportion of total training expenditure 
accounted for by the wages/salaries of people being trained. This was highest in Public 
Administration (59 per cent), and lowest in Electricity, Gas and Water (35 per cent) and in 
Agriculture (43 per cent). 

 
76 
Details of total training expenditure by sector and how this breaks down by individual key 
elements is shown in Table A.4.11 in Annex A. 
The proportion of total training expenditure spent on fees to external training providers 
varied relatively little by establishment size, country and sector (see Table 4.6 and Table 
A.4.11). A new question for the 2013 survey asked respondents what proportion of their 
fees to external providers were paid to FE (Further Education) colleges or to Universities 
or other Higher Education institutions. Results suggest that around £0.4bn was spent by 
employers in the previous 12 months on fees to FE colleges and HEIs, equivalent to 13 
per cent of total fees to external providers. Results differed relatively little by country and 
size. By sector, a higher than average proportion of fees to external providers was spent 
on FE colleges and HEIs in Manufacturing (17 per cent), Business Services (16 per cent) 
and Agriculture (16 per cent). 
Details of fees paid to FE colleges or to Universities or other Higher Education institutions 
for training is shown in Table A.4.12 in Annex A. 
4.11 
Conclusions 
Although the proportion of employers providing any training to staff over the last 12 
months has changed little since 2011, with two-thirds doing so, there have been a 
number of quite marked changes in the extent and nature of training provision between 
2011 and 2013. In particular: 
 
There has been a marked increase in the proportion of staff trained over the last 12 
months; 
 
At the same time there has been a marked fall in the average number of training days 
provided to each person trained; 
 
The net effect is a slight fall compared against 2011 in the total number of training 
days funded or arranged by UK employers. 
There has also been a fall in total training expenditure, driven mainly by a fall in 
expenditure: 
 
Among employers in England; 
 
Large employers with 100 or more staff; 
 
Employers in Public Administration and in Education; and 
 
In regard to on-the-job training. 

 
77 
These findings appear to support other research which suggests that the recession has 
led to employers ‘training smarter’ and ‘doing more for less’, with increased emphasis on 
in-house training, training employees as trainers, reduced use of external providers and 
enhanced use of e-learning21. 
 
 
                                                 
21 Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work, (UKCES, 2013), for example pages 
xiv and xv. http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-72-training-in-recession.pdf 

 
78 
5 
Recruitment of Young People 
5.1 
Summary 
Most “recruiting employers” (by which we mean employers who recruited anyone over the 
previous two to three years) recruited at least one young person during this time; overall, 
44 per cent of all employers recruited a young person in the two to three years preceding 
the survey.  
Around a quarter of employers (27 per cent) recruited at least one education leaver in 
that period. This represents a fall on 2011, when the figure stood at 29 per cent, despite 
there having been an increase in recruitment activity since 2011. Around one in five 
employers only recruited young people not entering their first job out of education, and 
did not recruit any education leavers. 
Among employers hiring new staff, the main obstacle to (more) young people getting new 
jobs is competition in the labour market. Half of recruiting employers who had not 
recruited young job applicants had opted instead for older candidates who were seen to 
be better placed; in such cases, young people who applied for these jobs may have been 
suitable but the recruiters opted for a candidate over the age of 25 to fill the role. Where 
young applicants were not considered to meet the requirements of the role, the main 
reasons cited were lack of skills and experience, and sometimes both. Of recruiting 
employers who had not recruited a young person, three in five (61 per cent) said they had 
not received any applications from young people. 
The reasons why some young people were not successful in their job applications 
mirrored the reasons why some employers were disappointed with the preparedness of 
recruits entering the job market in their first roles since leaving education. Most 
employers find the education leavers they take on to be either well or very well prepared 
for work, although around 36 per cent of employers taking on school leavers at 16 from 
schools in England, Northern Ireland or Wales described the recruits as poorly prepared 
(as do three in ten employers in Scotland taking new recruits from Scottish schools 
between the ages of 16 and 18). Perceptions of the preparedness of education leavers 
are very much in line with those reported in 2011 (see Table A.5.5 in Annex A). 
 
 

 
79 
5.2 
Introduction 
Youth unemployment is a major social and economic issue for the UK, and has been on 
the increase consistently over the last decade.  It is widely considered that young adults 
have suffered disproportionately in the labour market as a result of the downturn (The 
Youth Employment Challenge, UKCES 2012b).  
This report contributes to the understanding of the nature and scale of the youth 
unemployment challenge by measuring how many employers recruit young people and 
identifying key characteristics of these businesses; exploring how well prepared new 
labour market entrants are for the world of work; and investigating what barriers stand in 
the way of more employers recruiting young people. 
Like its predecessor, UKCESS 2013 explores recruitment of young people into their first 
job as they leave education at specific points: at 16, at 17 or 18 (whether from a school or 
a Further Education college) and at the end of Higher Education22. 
In a new area of investigation, it also looks separately at more general recruitment of 
young people (aged under 25) i.e. recruitment of young people for whom the position was 
not their first job on leaving school, college or university. 
Figure 5.1 summarises recruitment of young people in these two groups across the UK. It 
shows that: 
 
Most employers who have recruited in the last two to three years have 
recruited at least one young person aged under 25 (70 per cent of recruiting 
employers, equating to 44 per cent of all employers) 
 
Most employers who have recruited a young person have recruited at least 
one education leaver: 58 per cent of employers who have recruited young 
people in the last two to three years have recruited directly from education, 
equating to 25 per cent of all employers.  
                                                 
22 Employers in Scotland were asked slightly different questions to those in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Scottish 
employers were not asked to distinguish between 16 and 17-18 year old school leavers, but simply asked about 
employment of school leavers per se. Scottish employers were also asked to focus on their employment of young people in 
their first jobs on leaving a Scottish educational establishment. 

 
80 
 While a quarter of establishments hired education-leavers under the age of 
25, more employers recruit young people who are not entering their first job 
after leaving education (whether this be young people who are going into their 
second or third job, or young people who are still in education23): in the last two to 
three years a third of employers (32 per cent) recruited young people under the 
age of 25 who were not entering their first job after education. Enhanced 
competition for jobs means employers are in a position to be able to select from a 
wider pool of candidates, including those education-leavers who have secured 
additional work experience. 
Figure 5.1  Employer recruitment of young people - summary 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
23 A recent report by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) based on recent employment figures from ONS has 
suggested a large decrease in the proportion of young people who are working at the same time as they are studying.   
1%
44%
20%
25%
Recruited
education
leavers aged
over 25
32%
64%
36%
“Recruiting employers”
Recruited young people
Employers who have recruited anyone in the past two to three years
Recruited, but not
young people
Not recruited 
Recruited young 
person not from education 
Recruited young 
person from education 
Employers who have recruited anyone under 
the age of 25 in the past two to three years
Base: All establishments (91,279) 
Base: All establishments (Module 2; 45,644) 

 
81 
5.3 
Recruitment of education leavers 
Just over a quarter of establishments (27 per cent) had recruited someone directly into 
their first job after leaving education in the past 2-3 years. The vast majority of these (25 
per cent) had recruited an education leaver aged under 25; a further one per cent had 
recruited an HEI leaver aged 25 or over24. 
By and large, patterns of recruitment of education leavers followed patterns of recruitment 
of young people more generally: 
 Employers in Northern Ireland were less likely to recruit education leavers 
compared to elsewhere in the UK (22 per cent in Northern Ireland compared with 
27 per cent in England and Wales and 29 per cent in Scotland). 
 Larger employers were more likely to have recruited education leavers into their 
first job than smaller employers. Across all countries, the majority of employers with 
25 or more employees have recruited an education leaver over the last two to three 
years, rising to over three-quarters of employers with 100 or more employees. 
 Employers in the Education sector were by far the most likely to have recruited 
education leavers into their first job (50 per cent had done so), followed by 35 per 
cent in the Hotels and Restaurants. Employers in the Agriculture and the 
Construction sectors were by far the least likely (13 per cent and 18 per cent 
respectively).  
In overall terms these figures represent a decrease in recruitment of education leavers 
since 2011, when 29 per cent of employers across the UK said they had recruited an 
education leaver in the previous two to three years. The reduction is particularly marked: 
 
in Northern Ireland, which previously recorded levels of recruitment of education 
leavers close to the UK average at 28 per cent 
 
among the smallest employers: in 2011, 17 per cent of employers with fewer 
than five employees had recruited an education leaver, falling to 13 per cent in 
2013. Conversely, the proportion of medium sized and larger employers who 
recruited education leavers increased between 2011 to 2013.  
 
within the Agriculture and Construction sectors, where recruitment of 
education leavers fell, respectively, from 20 per cent to 13 per cent and from 25 
per cent to 18 per cent. (Recruitment of young people fell across all sectors, 
although to a less marked extent elsewhere). 
                                                 
24 These two figures (25 per cent and one per cent) combine to create the total figure for recruitment of education leavers of 
27 per cent, with the apparent discrepancy being a result of rounding. 

 
82 
5.3.1 Recruitment from different stages of education 
Young people leave education and enter the job market at a number of different stages 
and from different types of institution.  
The survey asked employers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales whether they had 
recruited people: at age 16 from school, at age 17-18 from school, at age 17-18 from an 
FE college or from an HEI (at whatever age).  
After initially being asked whether they had taken on education leavers, employers in 
Scotland were asked a slightly different set of follow-up questions. They were asked 
about school leavers per se (rather than separating out those leaving at 16 from those 
leaving at 17 to 18) and they were asked about their recruitment of leavers from Scottish 
education institutions specifically. This was to ensure consistency with UKCESS 2011 
and the historical Scottish Employer Skills Survey series.  
Table 5.1 presents findings for both sets of questions and for employers across the UK, 
for 2011 as well as for 2013.  
Table 5.1  Incidence of recruitment of education leavers into their first jobs by country 
(2011 vs. 2013) 
 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Wales 
Scotland 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
2011 
2013 
Unweighted base 
74,156 
72,255 
3,921 
4,014 
5,958 
5,996 
2,487 
6,014 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Recruited any education 
leaver 
29 
27 
28 
22 
28 
27 
30 
29 
Recruited any school leaver 
16 
14 
15 
11 
14 
15 
17 
17 
 16 year old school leaver 
9 
8 
7 
6 
9 
8 
N/A 
    17-18 year old school leaver 
11 
11 
10 
9 
10 
11 
Recruited college leaver 
10 
12 
9 
8 
11 
11 
10 
11 
Recruited HEI leaver 
12 
14 
13 
12 
12 
13 
11 
12 
Base: All establishments 
NB: The overall “any education leaver” figure shown here is the proportion who had recruited any education 
leaver regardless of location for all countries. The figures broken down by education level differ between the 
countries: employers in Scotland were responding to questions about their recruitment of people leaving 
Scottish educational establishments, whereas the location of the establishment was not referenced in the 
questions to English, Northern Irish or Welsh employers. 
Note the 2011 “Recruited any education leaver” figure for Scotland has been updated since this report was 
first published (updated July 2014). 
 

 
83 
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales the patterns of recruitment from different phases 
of education are very similar: employers are least likely to recruit 16 year olds from 
school, and most likely to recruit graduates. Employers in Northern Ireland are less likely 
than their counterparts in England and Wales to recruit any of the groups of education 
leaver. See Table A.5.1 in Annex A for a breakdown by size and sector. 
It is difficult to make firm comparison between employers in Scotland and those in the 
rest of the UK because the questions asked were slightly different, but the indications are 
that patterns are broadly similar, in particular in respect of recruitment of college and HEI 
leavers. See Table A.5.2 in Annex A for a breakdown by size and sector. 
In the main, findings in 2013 are very similar to in 2011, with the notable exception of 
decreased recruitment of young people from schools in Northern Ireland.  
As with recruitment activity in general, the larger the establishment the more likely they 
are to recruit an education leaver from each of the groups into their first job. Figure 5.2 
shows that across all countries, the majority of employers with more than 100 employees 
recruited at least one graduate into their first job on leaving HE.  
Figure 5.2  Incidence of recruitment in the last 2-3 years of education leavers into their first 
jobs by size of establishment 
 
 
 
Base: All establishments in England, Northern Ireland and Wales
(91,279)
(17,949)
(48,387)
(10,078)
(5,102)
(2,674)
(1,075)
8%
3%
10%
18%
19%
24%
30%
10%
3%
14%
27%
32%
43%
51%
11%
4%
15%
29%
34%
44%
54%
14%
5%
17%
36%
46%
60%
69%
27%
13%
37%
59%
67%
77%
81%
Overall
2 to 4
5 to 24
25 to 49
50 to 99
100 to 249
250+
16 year old school leavers
17-18 year old school leavers
17-18 year old FE College leavers
University/HE leavers
Any education leavers
17%
8%
21%
35%
41%
40%
46%
11%
5%
12%
29%
35%
42%
55%
12%
5%
13%
34%
43%
51%
66%
26%
13%
32%
57%
63%
70%
79%
Overall
2 to 4
5 to 24
25 to 49
50 to 99
100 to 249
250+
Scottish School Leavers
Scottish FEC leavers
Scottish University leavers
Any Scottish education leavers
(6,014)
(1,109)
(3,178)
(869)
(482)
(264)
(112)

 
84 
Hotels & Restaurants
Education 15 %
18%
23%
Health and social work 
17%
Education
16 %
Hotels & Restaurants
19%
Education 38%
Public admin and defence, 
compulsory social security 
20%
Financial services 
Health and social work 
17%
18%
Real estate, renting 
and business activities 
Wholesale and 
retail trade
17%
FOR SALE
Real estate, renting 
and business activities 
9%
Financial services 
10%
Agriculture, hunting, 
forestry and fishing 
8%
Transport storage 
and communications 10%
Real estate, renting 
and business activities 
8%
Financial services 
9%
Agriculture, hunting, 
forestry and fishing 
5%
Construction
6%
Manufacturing 
9%
Agriculture, hunting, 
forestry and fishing 
3%
Construction
4%
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
HIGH LEVELS OF RECRUITMENT
LOW LEVELS OF RECRUITMENT
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Establishments that recruited from….
FURTHER EDUCATION COLLEGES
Establishments that recruited from….
SCHOOL 
Establishments that recruited from….
Base: All establishments
There is considerable variation in rates of recruitment of education leavers across the 
different sectors of the economy. Full detail is shown in Table A.5.3 in Annex A; Table 5.2 
below picks out some of the most marked differences and patterns. 
Table 5.2  Sector patterns of recruitment of education leavers 
 

 
85 
Education employers have a high propensity to recruit education leavers at all levels; 
employers in Hotels and Restaurants are frequent recruiters of education leavers from 
schools or colleges; and employers in the Health and Social Work sector are frequent 
recruiters of college leavers and of graduates. 
It is rare for employers in the Agriculture sector to recruit education leavers at any level; 
Construction employers are highly unlikely to recruit graduates or college leavers. 
Financial Services employers and those in Business Services rarely recruit from school or 
college but are among the most likely to recruit graduates. 
5.4 
Perceived work readiness of education leavers 
It is often argued that the UK’s education system does not do enough to prepare young 
people for the world of work. UKCESS 2013 asked employers directly how well prepared 
for work they had found the young people they had recruited from education. In line with 
2011 findings, the majority of employers found the majority of education leavers at each 
educational stage to be well prepared. 
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, 59 per cent of employers felt 16 year old school 
leavers they had recruited were very well or well prepared. Two-thirds (66 per cent) of 
employers felt that 17-18 year olds recruited from school were well / very well prepared 
and three-quarters (74 per cent) agreed that new recruits from FE colleges employed into 
their first jobs were very well or well prepared. The highest level was found among those 
taking on HE graduates where 83 per cent said their recruits were well / very well 
prepared. For Scottish employers who recruited education leavers a similar pattern 
emerges, with 65 per cent considering Scottish secondary school leavers to be prepared, 
rising to 78 per cent amongst those employing recruits from FE colleges and to 85 per 
cent for recruiters of Scottish HE graduates. Further detail is included in Tables A.5.4 and 
A.5.4(i) in Annex A. 
These figures are consistent with the 2011 Employer Skills Survey and reflect that 
employers generally consider investment in education to pay off in delivering new recruits 
who are increasingly prepared for the world of work the further they have pursued 
education (see Table A.5.5 in Annex A).  
 
 

 
86 
Figure 5.3  Work-readiness of those recruited straight from education  
  
In 2011 there was a clear pattern whereby smaller establishments were less likely to find 
education leavers at each level to be well prepared than larger establishments.  Although 
less marked, this pattern persisted in 2013 in respect of HE leavers (75 per cent of 
employers with 2-4 employees said their recruits from HE were well or very well prepared 
but this figure rose to 86 per cent amongst employers with more than 250 staff). 
However, it was not replicated amongst school leavers where there was little difference in 
perceptions of preparedness by size band.  
As detailed in Tables A.5.5(i) and A.5.5(ii) in Annex A, there were also some patterns 
evident by sector including amongst establishments in England, Wales and Northern 
Ireland in the proportions considering new recruits to be well prepared for work: 
 
Amongst employers who had recruited 16 year old school leavers, those in  
Wholesale and Retail and Agriculture were more likely to feel they were prepared 
well (63 per cent and 67 per cent respectively), with those in Financial Services 
(53 per cent) and Manufacturing (54 per cent) the least likely compared to the UK 
average (59 per cent);  
14%
19%
18%
18%
3%
4%
2%
4%
66%
60%
63%
61%
12%
13%
12%
13%
Scotland
Wales
NI
England
25%
33%
34%
28%
4%
8%
6%
7%
55%
47%
45%
48%
10%
8%
10%
11%
25%
26%
24%
5%
5%
5%
54%
57%
56%
11%
8%
10%
8%
12%
10%
11%
2%
1%
2%
62%
57%
63%
60%
23%
25%
23%
24%
16 year-
old 
school 
leavers
17-18 
year-
old 
school 
leavers
17-18 
year-old 
FE 
leavers
University
/HE 
leavers
England
NI
Wales
Scotland  all 
school leavers
England
NI
Wales
England
NI
Wales
Scotland
(509) 
(13,031) 
(931)
(1,514)
(14,039)
(483)
(913)
(1,095)
(1,258)
(722)
(1,080)
(17,770)
Base: All establishments that have recruited each type of education leaver in the previous 2-3 years
(9,117)
(313)
(630)

 
87 
 
Wholesale and Retail and Education employers were highly likely to feel 17-18 
school leavers were well prepared (both 71 per cent) whilst sectors where 
employers were less likely to report this included Manufacturing (59 per cent) and 
Electricity, Gas and Water (58 per cent) than the economy average (66 per cent);  
 
Among establishments taking on 17-18 year old FE College leavers, those in 
Wholesale and Retail (78 per cent) and Education (78 per cent) were the most 
likely to consider their recruits well prepared. Fewer employers in Transport and 
Communications (64 per cent) and Electricity, Gas and Water (62 per cent) felt 
new recruits were well prepared compared to the all-sector average (74 per cent); 
 
In terms of the graduate recruitment market, Education employers (again) were 
most likely to describe graduate recruits (91 per cent) as well prepared. Public 
Administration employers also reported higher figures (88 per cent) than average 
(83 per cent). Those in Business Services and Transport and Communications 
were the least likely to consider their HE recruits as well prepared (79 and 75 per 
cent).  
 
 

 
88 
5.5 
Skills and attributes lacking in education leavers 
Where establishments had signalled that their new recruits were poorly prepared for 
work, employers were asked to indicate what specific skills or attributes their education 
leavers were lacking.  Findings are summarised for all nations in Table 5.3.  
Table 5.3  Skills and attributes lacking in education leavers 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
base 
 
Lack of working world, life 
experience or maturity 
Poor attitude, personality or 
lack of motivation 
Lack of required skills or 
competencies 
Lack of common sense 
Literacy/numeracy skills 
Poor educational attainment 
UK 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
School Leavers 
19,597 
% 
22 
18 
10 
5 
4 
3 
FE College Leavers 
16,530 
% 
13 
10 
7 
3 
2 
1 
University/HE Leavers 
19,028 
% 
7 
4 
5 
2 
1 
1 
England 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
School Leavers 
16,301 
% 
22 
18 
10 
6 
4 
3 
FE College Leavers 
14,039 
% 
14 
11 
7 
3 
2 
1 
University/HE Leavers 
15,968 
% 
8 
5 
5 
2 
1 
1 
Northern Ireland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
School Leavers 
608 
% 
22 
16 
14 
6 
3 
2 
FE College Leavers 
483 
% 
13 
9 
7 
2 
2 
1 
University/HE Leavers 
722 
% 
6 
4 
5 
1 
1 
1 
Wales 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
School Leavers 
1,174 
% 
23 
20 
11 
5 
4 
3 
FE College Leavers 
913 
% 
13 
11 
9 
3 
3 
1 
University/HE Leavers 
1,080 
% 
10 
7 
5 
2 
* 
* 
Scotland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
School Leavers 
1,514 
% 
21 
14 
9 
2 
3 
1 
FE College Leavers 
1,095 
% 
9 
7 
9 
4 
1 
1 
University/HE Leavers 
1,258 
% 
6 
3 
4 
* 
* 
* 
Base: Establishments who had recruited each type of education leaver 
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5% 

 
89 
The most commonly cited reason for education leavers of all types being poorly prepared 
for work was that the new recruits lacked experience of the working world or experience 
of life in general. This was mentioned in higher proportions amongst those recruiting 
younger leavers (22 per cent of establishments who recruited school leavers) than older 
cohorts (seven per cent for those recruiting HE leavers). In England, Northern Ireland and 
Wales a distinction was made between 17-18 year old school leavers and FE College 
leavers; lack of experience of the working world and life in general was notably more 
likely to be cited by those recruiting school leavers of this age (18 per cent) compared to 
those taking on their counterparts from FE (14 per cent).   
The second most common area employers highlighted when they described education 
leavers as poorly prepared was a lack of motivation and/or a poor attitude to work in 
general. This was the case for almost one in five employers who had recruited a school 
leaver (18 per cent) and for one in ten establishments who had recruited an FE College 
leaver; lack of motivation or poor attitude among HE graduates was reported among just 
five per cent of recruiting establishments. 
Just under one in ten establishments who had recruited a school or college leaver of any 
age perceived their new recruits to lack the required skills or technical competencies 
necessary for the job. Only five per cent of those taking on HE graduates felt this way. 
5.6 
Recruitment of young people 
Overall, 44 per cent of employers across the UK had recruited a young person under the 
age of 25 in the two to three years prior to their interview.  
Employers in England, Scotland and Wales were equally likely to have recruited young 
people (45 per cent, 46 per cent and 45 per cent respectively); employers in Northern 
Ireland were considerably less likely to have done so (35 per cent). This pattern of lower 
rates of recruitment of young people in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK is in 
line with that reported in UKCEPS 2012 which measured recruitment of young people 
between Spring 2011 and Spring 2012. 
As one would expect, there is considerable variance by size of employer. A quarter of 
establishments with 2-4 employees (25 per cent) taking on staff have recruited a young 
person in the past 2 to 3 years, compared to 94 per cent of establishments with 250 or 
more employees. This reflects not only that larger employers are more likely to recruit, 
but also that they recruit in greater numbers (with an enhanced likelihood that some of 
their recruits are young people). 

 
90 
Rates of recruitment of young people vary considerably between sectors. On one hand, 
three in five establishments in the Education sector (62 per cent) and a similar proportion 
in the Hotels and Restaurants sector (59 per cent) had recruited a young person over the 
last 2 to 3 years. On the other hand, a minority of employers in the Agriculture and 
Construction sectors had recruited a young person in that time (23 per cent and 30 per 
cent respectively) 
5.7 
Barriers to recruiting young people 
In a new question area developed for the 2013 survey, the 30 per cent of employers who 
recruited over the last two to three years but who had not taken on a young person 
(equivalent to 19 per cent of all employers) were asked why they had not done so. They 
were first asked whether it was because they had not received applications from young 
people or because they had made a choice not to recruit young applicants. In the latter 
case, employers were asked if this was simply a case of competition for jobs or if the 
young applicants exhibited shortcomings which stopped them being recruited. Figure 5.4 
represents their responses. 
Figure 5.4  Reasons why some recruiting employers do not recruit young people 
 
No candidates 
under 25
61%
29% had 
young 
applicants
Base: All recruiting employers who described young 
applicants as not meeting requirements (987)

 
91 
In the majority of cases, no young people had been taken on for the simple reason that 
none had applied. Almost two-thirds of recruiting employers (61 per cent) who had not 
recruited young people reported this to be the case. This figure was higher in England 
and Northern Ireland (both 62 per cent) than in Scotland (58 per cent) and Wales (55 per 
cent).  
Where employers had not taken on any young people who had applied, there were two 
main explanations. Most commonly, it was a case of competition with other (presumably 
older, more experienced) applicants being preferred over young applicant(s) who had the 
required skills and experience to do the job: 53 per cent of establishments who had not 
recruited any of their young applicants explained their choices in this way. A further small 
group of employers (seven per cent of those receiving, but not taking on any young 
applicants) said that the applications were speculative and that there were no vacant 
posts for the young person to take at the time they applied. In a very small proportion of 
cases (two per cent of employers who had not taken on young applicants) it was in fact 
the young person who had turned down the offer of the job, rather than the employer 
turning them down. 
A large minority of employers (46 per cent) who had not taken on a young applicant(s) 
said that this was because the young applicant(s) did not meet their requirements.  
Employers in Scotland were less likely to state this (38 per cent) than those in England 
(47 per cent) and Wales (45 per cent), although it was in Northern Ireland that this view 
was most commonly expressed (51 per cent). Employers in Transport and 
Communications (62 per cent) were particularly likely to have had this experience 
compared to the economy-wide average (46 per cent).  
Where employers considered young applicants not to meet requirements, the majority (63 
per cent) said they lacked the necessary skills and 61 per cent relevant work experience. 
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) said they lacked both.  
Employers in Northern Ireland who reported that young applicants did not meet 
requirements were particularly likely to question their skills levels: 75 per cent said that 
they lacked the necessary skills. A lack of work experience was particularly likely to be 
given as a reason for failing to employ young people by employers in the Health and 
Social Work, Financial Services and Transport and Communication sectors (71 per cent, 
70 per cent and 72 per cent respectively). 

 
92 
Other less frequently mentioned reasons for not employing a young person included 
where the employers felt that candidates lacked a professional or hardworking attitude or 
the motivation that they typically look for (this was the case for 38 per cent of 
establishments where young applicants did not meet the employer’s requirements). A 
third of employers (33 per cent) felt that the young person had not communicated their 
employability well enough either through their CV, covering letter, application form or at 
interview. Finally, slightly lower proportions (29 per cent) said the candidates lacked the 
necessary qualifications they look for in a suitable employee.   
5.8 
Skills deficiencies and training among employers who recruit young 
people  
In this final section of the chapter we look briefly at the extent to which employers who 
recruit young people experience skills deficiencies and at the extent of their workforce 
development activity. 
Table 5.4 highlights differences between employers who have recruited young people, 
those who have recruited education leavers, and recruiting employers who have not 
recruited a young person in terms of some of the key UKCESS measures: the prevalence 
of vacancies and skills gaps, and the extent of training activity. 
Table 5.4  Skills deficiencies and training activity among employers who recruit young 
people and education leavers  
 
Recruited a 
Young 
Person 
Recruited 
school 
leaver 
Recruited 
FEC leaver 
Recruited 
HE leaver 
Recruited 
but not a 
Young 
Person 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Unweighted base 
27,067 
19,597 
16,530 
19,028 
7,867 
Have vacancies 
24 
28 
31 
34 
14 
Have skill-shortage 
vacancies  
7 
8 
9 
10 
4 
Skill-shortage 
vacancies as % of 
all vacancies  
22 
21 
21 
21 
25 
Skill-shortage 
vacancies as % of 
all hard-to-fill 
vacancies 
78 
78 
80 
82 
76 
Have skill gaps 
27 
34 
33 
31 
14 
Skills gap density 
6 
7 
7 
6 
4 
Train at all 
81 
85 
87 
88 
74 
% of staff trained 
65 
68 
71 
71 
55 
Base: Establishments who had recruited each type of individual(s) 

 
93 
This analysis evidences some quite substantial differences between employers who had 
recruited young people, including education leavers, and recruiting employers who had 
not recruited from these groups.  
Employers who had recruited young people and/or education leavers over the past two to 
three years were around twice as likely to have vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-
shortage vacancies as recruiting employers who didn’t recruit from these groups. This 
suggests that they continue to have a greater demand for (new) labour. 
It was not the case, however, that a larger proportion of their vacancies were proving to 
be hard-to-fill, or indeed that a greater proportion of their hard-to-fill vacancies were skill-
shortage vacancies. So although they have a greater demand for (new) labour, they do 
not appear to be more challenged in the labour market. 
Employers who had recruited young people and/or education leavers over the past two to 
three years were considerably more likely to have staff who were not fully proficient than 
other recruiting employers, and a larger proportion of their workforce lacked proficiency. 
They were also much more likely to fund or arrange training for their staff than those that 
had not, and they funded and arranged training for a larger proportion of their workforce. 
5.9 
Conclusions 
Although there has been an increase in recruitment activity since the 2011 survey, and 
although most recruiting employers have recruited at least one young person over the 
last two to three years, there has been a fall in the proportion of employers recruiting 
young people from education.  
Around a quarter of employers recruited at least one education leaver in that period (27 
per cent, down from 29 per cent in 2011). Most of them found these recruits to be well or 
very well prepared for work, although as many as four in ten employers taking on school 
leavers at 16 from schools in England, Northern Ireland or Wales described the recruits 
as poorly prepared (as do three in ten employers in Scotland taking new recruits from 
Scottish schools between the ages of 16 and 18). 
The main obstacle to (more) young people getting new jobs is competition in the market 
place rather than perceptions that young applicants do not have the capability to perform 
in the job role. Where it was felt a young applicant did not meet requirements for the role, 
the main reasons cited were a lack of skills and experience, and sometimes both. Three 
in five recruiting employers (61 per cent) who had not recruited a young person said they 
had had no applications from young people. 

 
94 
Employers who had recruited young people and/or education leavers over the past two to 
three years appeared to have a greater demand for (new) labour than other employers, 
being around twice as likely to have vacancies. It was not the case, however, that a larger 
proportion of their vacancies were proving to be hard-to-fill, or indeed that a greater 
proportion of their hard-to-fill vacancies were skill-shortage vacancies. So although they 
have a greater demand for (new) labour, they do not appear to be more challenged in the 
labour market. 
They are more challenged by skills in their existing workforce: they are more likely to 
have staff who were not fully proficient than other recruiting employers, and a larger 
proportion of their workforce lack proficiency. They are also more likely to train, and they 
fund and arrange training for a larger proportion of their workforce. 
This raises a number of questions including: 
 
Whether these employers train more because they need to as a reflection of the 
make-up of their workforce (for example the very fact that they have taken on 
young people who need training); or whether their confidence in their training 
structures makes the recruitment of young people / education leavers a less risky 
choice for them; 
 
Whether they train more because they have more skills gaps or whether they 
recognise more skills gaps because they train more, and more assiduously; 
 
Whether these employers take on young people because that is the only way for 
them to satisfy their demand for labour, or whether their choice to recruit young 
people is a more positive one that reflects the nature of their business operations 
and the way in which they pursue them. 
 Further investigation will be required in order to develop answers to these questions. 
 
 

 
95 
6 
High performance Working Practices and 
Product Market Strategies 
6.1 
Chapter Summary 
High Performance Working (HPW) is defined by the UK Commission as ‘a general 
approach to managing organisations that aims to stimulate more effective employee 
involvement and commitment in order to achieve high levels of performance’ (UKCES 
2009).  
The survey identifies a minority of employers – 12 per cent – who are “High 
Performance Working employers” in the sense that they adopt a number of specific 
work practices.  
Such employers are considerably more active in the recruitment market than average: 
twice as many have a vacancy as non-HPW employers (29 per cent compared to 13 per 
cent). The evidence suggests that they find it easier to fill the vacancies they have than 
non-HPW employers do: under a quarter of HPW employers’ vacancies were proving 
hard-to-fill (22 per cent) compared to a third among non-HPW employers. Similarly a 
smaller proportion of HPW employers’ vacancies are skill-shortage vacancies (19 per 
cent, compared to 25 per cent among non-HPW employers). 
HPW employers are also considerably more likely to experience skill gaps than non-HPW 
employers (23 per cent compared to 14 per cent), although the proportion of their 
workforce that lacks proficiency is in line with the national average (five per cent).  
HPW employers are more likely to train and to train a higher proportion of their workforce. 
Product Market Strategies (PMS) are defined within UKCESS 2013 by aggregating 
responses to a series of questions exploring pricing strategies, approaches to innovation 
and the nature of the product market (the extent to which the market attracts a “premium” 
and the extent of customisation of products and services in the market).  
Aggregating these responses classifies two in five private sector employers in the UK as 
having a high or very high product market strategy indicating that their competitive 
success is not dependent on price, they pursue innovation, they compete on quality 
and/or that they offer customised goods or services. 

 
96 
The higher an employer’s composite PMS score, the more likely it is that they will have a 
vacancy, hard-to-fill vacancy or skill-shortage vacancy. On the other hand, recruitment 
difficulties are broadly more pronounced among employers with a lower composite score 
than among those with a higher PMS score, in the sense that a greater proportion of their 
vacancies are hard-to-fill. 
Similarly, employers with a high composite PMS score are more likely to identify skill 
gaps than employers with a low score, but the proportion of their workforce that lacks 
proficiency is no higher. 
And in similar vein, employers with a higher composite PMS score are more likely to fund 
or arrange training for their staff. 
6.2 
Introduction 
In previous chapters, this report has looked at employers’ practice in funding and 
arranging training and at their experience of skills deficiencies (both skill shortages in the 
available labour market and gaps between the skills employers require and those which 
their employees currently possess), considering how these challenges affect employers 
in different parts of the UK, of different sizes and in different business sectors differently. 
There are of course other ways of grouping employers to understand commonalities and 
differences between them; and in this chapter we use two categorisations based on 
combinations of responses to a number of survey questions to try to better understand 
what might underlie or influence employers’ experiences of skill shortages and what 
drives them to fund and arrange training for their employees. These two categorisations 
are: 
 
Whether or not the employers are High Performance Working (HPW) employers 
 
The Product Market Strategies (PMS) that employers adopt   
6.3 
High Performance Working 
High Performance Working (HPW) is defined by the UK Commission as ‘a general 
approach to managing organisations that aims to stimulate more effective employee 
involvement and commitment in order to achieve high levels of performance’ (UKCES, 
2009). There exists a considerable body of evidence showing that wider adoption of HPW 
practices can deliver improved business productivity and enhanced competitiveness; 
reflecting this evidence, the wider adoption of HPW practices has been encouraged by 
government and by labour market and business theorists as a means of augmenting 
economic growth (Stone et al., 2012). 

 
97 
UKCESS 2013 included a series of questions relating to a set of recognised HPW 
practices. These practices are illustrated in Figure 6.1 which shows the proportion of 
employers who adopt each practice (the bar chart on the left hand side of the graphic) 
and then the distribution of employers in terms of the total number of HPW practices they 
adopt (the area chart on the right hand side). This shows that 12 per cent of employers 
adopt 14 of the 21 High Performance Working practices that the survey covered; 
employers adopting 14 or above practices are classified here as Higher Performance 
Working employers (HPW employers).  
Figure 6.1  Employer adoption of High Performance Working Practices 
 
As one might expect there are considerable differences in the proportions of employers 
adopting each practice, and in the total number of HPW practices that different types of 
employers adopt. The key features are that: 
 
larger employers are more likely to be HPW organisations than smaller 
employers, although most HPW employers are nonetheless small. This is a function 
of the overall profile of employers, which is overwhelmingly geared towards smaller 
establishments. Around seven in ten HPW employers have 25 or fewer employees; 
 
there is considerable variation by sector: as many as 36 per cent of employers in the 
Public Administration, Education and Financial Services sectors are HPW employers, 
compared to one in 50 in Agriculture and one in 25 in Construction.  
11%
12%
12%
14%
14%
17%
29%
30%
31%
35%
39%
44%
44%
48%
51%
53%
63%
63%
67%
85%
85%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100%
Creates teams to work on projects
Trade union consultation (non pay
related)
Employee consultation
Holds ISO9000
Processes to identify high potential /
talented individuals
IIP
Flexible benefits
Training budget
Individual performance related pay
Awards performance related bonuses
Flexible working
Training plan
Formally assess performance after
training
Task discretion
Training needs assessments
Task variety
Annual performance review
Business plan
On or off job training
Equal opportunity policy
Work shadowing/stretching/supervision
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Base: All establishments (Module 1; 45,635)
Overall
12% of employers 
are HPW
employers
(defined as “having” 
14 of 21 HPW
measures in place)

 
98 
6.3.1 The relationship between HPW and skills shortages 
It was reported in chapter two that 15 per cent of all establishments had at least one 
vacancy at the time of their interview (in Spring-Summer 2013). HPW employers are 
considerably more active in the recruitment market than average, with around twice as 
many of them having a vacancy (29 per cent) compared to non-HPW employers (13 per 
cent). In line with this greater propensity to recruit, HPW employers were also around 
twice as likely as non-HPW employers to have at least one hard-to-fill vacancy and at 
least one skill-shortage vacancy. 
However, although HPW employers are more likely to experience at least one hard-to-fill 
and/or skill-shortage vacancy, in volume terms the evidence suggests that they actually 
find it easier to fill their vacancies. Under a quarter of all vacancies (22 per cent) reported 
by HPW employers were proving hard-to-fill, compared to a third (33 per cent) among 
non-HPW employers. Similarly, a smaller proportion of HPW employers’ vacancies are 
considered skill-shortage vacancies (19 per cent, compared to 25 per cent among non-
HPW employers). 
These quite marked differences do not appear to be a function of differences between 
HPW and non-HPW employers in terms of their size (i.e. the fact that HPW employers 
tend to be larger, on average, than non-HPW employers). Among employers with fewer 
than 100 employees in particular, HPW employers are more likely to report vacancies, 
hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies than their non-HPW counterparts, and 
– contrary to the overall trend -  a higher proportion of their hard-to-fill vacancies are skill-
shortage vacancies (see Figure 6.2). The patterns are less clear among larger 
employers. These data are also displayed in Table A.6.1 in Annex A. 
 
 

 
99 
Figure 6.2  Incidence and density of vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage 
vacancies by HPW classification and size 
 
6.3.2 The relationship between HPW and skills gaps 
HPW employers are also considerably more likely than other employers to experience 
skills gaps, although the same proportion of the workforce lacks proficiency across both 
types of employer (see Table 6.1). This could reflect that HPW employers are – by 
definition – more likely to engage in activities that are likely to leave them better placed to 
identify skill gaps (e.g. annual performance reviews, training needs assessments, 
formally assessing performance after training). 
Table 6.1  Incidence, volume and density of skills gaps by HPW classification 
 
HPW employers  
Non-HPW employers 
Unweighted Base 
8,105 
37,530 
 
% 
% 
% of establishments with a skills 
gap 
23 
14 
% of workforce with skills gaps 
5 
5 
Base: All establishments in Module 1 by HPW classification. 
Number of skills gaps rounded to nearest 100. 
‘Percentage of workforce with skills gaps’ is shown as a proportion of all employment 
15%
23%
37%
48%
61%
61%
6%
7%
10%
14%
19%
21%
5%
6%
8%
11%
16%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2 to 4
5 to 24
25 to 49
50 to 99 100 to 249
250+
Have vacancies
Have HtFVs
Have SSVs
HtFVs as % of Vacs
SSVs as % of htfvs
HPW employers
8%
15%
30%
39%
57%
70%
3%
5%
9%
10%
18%
18%
2%
4%
7%
8%
15%
16%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2 to 4
5 to 24
25 to 49
50 to 99 100 to 249
250+
Have vacancies
Have HtFVs
Have SSVs
HtFVs as % of Vacs
SSVs as % of htfvs
Non-HPW employers
Base: All establishments by HPW classification and size (Module 1)
Base:
(4,026)
(426)
(721)
(1,003)
(392)
(21,835)
(9,100)
(745)
(1,779)
(206)
(1,537)
(3,865)

 
100 
It is very clear that this heightened experience of skill gaps is not a function of 
establishment size.  The gap between HPW employers’ experience of skill gaps and 
non-HPW employers’ experience of skill gaps is consistent within all size bands; and 
across all size bands HPW employers and non-HPW employers report a similar 
proportion of their staff as lacking proficiency (see Table A.6.2 in Annex A).  
6.3.3 The relationship between HPW and training 
As previously shown in Figure 6.1, funding or arranging training is defined within this 
survey as a high performance working practice. It is unsurprising, therefore, that HPW 
employers are more likely to train than non-HPW employers (97 per cent do so, 
compared to 62 per cent of non-HPW employers). On average, HPW employers also 
train a much higher proportion of their workforce (75 per cent, compared to 56 per cent of 
non-HPW employers). 
Again, these differences between HPW employers and non-HPW employers persist if 
one “controls” for other characteristics. For example, within different size bands HPW 
employers are more likely to train their employees and to train more of them; the story is 
the same in different sectors (see Table A.6.3 in Annex A).  
6.4 
Product market strategies 
Product market strategies (PMS) describe the ways in which organisations choose to 
differentiate and position the products and services they provide within the markets in 
which they operate. It is thought that employers operating ‘higher’ product market 
strategies offer greater opportunity for sustainable business growth which should, in turn, 
place a greater demand on skills (see for example High Performance Working in the 
Employer Skills Surveys, UKCES 2013). The inter-relationship between PMS and 
workforce skills is a theme of key policy interest for government as the availability of 
workforce skills may have a bearing on the strategies that firms are able to pursue (and 
on their medium and long-term success).  
Within the survey, private sector employers were asked to rate their establishments on 
a five-point scale, compared to other establishments in the same industries, in terms of: 
 
the extent to which their competitive success depends on price; 
 
the extent to which the establishment tends to lead the way in their industry in terms 
of the development of new products, materials or techniques; 
 
the extent to which the establishment competes in a ‘premium quality’ or ‘standard or 
basic quality’ product market; and 

 
101 
 
the extent to which they offer goods or services with a substantial amount of 
customisation according to customer requirements.25 
Figure 6.3 illustrates the overall responses to each of these individual product market 
‘position statements’ in both 2013 (the broader bars) and in 2011 (the thinner bars), 
including the score attributed to each response. 
Figure 6.3  Product Market Strategy positions 
 
Employers’ responses to the first two product market ‘position statements’ – relating to 
price dependency and innovation – distributed more or less normatively across the five 
points of the scale as they did in 2011 (i.e. in both years, roughly equal numbers of 
employers said they rarely led the way as said they always did, and roughly equal 
numbers said their products / services were wholly price dependent as said they were not 
at all price dependent). 
A larger proportion of employers described their offer as at the premium quality end of the 
scale than described their offer as “standard” or “basic” in quality. Again, responses very 
closely mirrored those recorded in 2011. 
                                                 
25 Responses to the “no difference – substantial customisation” position statement were recorded on a 3 point scale in 
UKCESS 2011 and was switched to a 5 point scale in UKCESS 2013 in order to align it with the other ‘position statement’ 
questions. 
11%
6%
21%
16%
7%
6%
13%
14%
24%
25%
26%
37%
22%
26%
17%
15%
29%
33%
18%
13%
1
2
3
4
5
Wholly price 
dependent
Rarely leads the 
way
Standard or 
basic quality
No difference in 
product/service 
offering
Not at all price 
dependent
Often leads the 
way
Premium 
quality
Substantial 
customisation
32%
7%
18%
16%
6%
12%
15%
29%
25%
27%
38%
26%
18%
16%
34%
33%
20%
12%
Base: All establishments in the private sector (2013: 75,997; 2011: 70,761)
2013
2011
2013
2011
2013
2011
2013
2011

 
102 
Similarly, a greater proportion of employers described their product / service offering as 
allowing customisation than said it was standardised.  Here things look different than they 
did in 2011. In part this is due to the question having previously been asked in a different 
way (in 2011, employers described the degree of customisation in their offer against a 
prompted three-point scale). An impact of this different scale appears to have been that a 
greater proportion of employers describe a degree of customisation in their offer than was 
previously the case. 
6.4.1 Deriving a composite Product Market Index 
In order to discern the overall Product Market Strategies of different establishments, the 
responses to the four product market ‘position statements’ were aggregated to derive a 
composite PMS ‘score’. These composite scores were then converted to a fivefold 
classification ranging from ‘very low’ to ‘very high’, as detailed in Table 6.2. A high 
composite score indicates that the employer tends to lead the way in innovation in its 
sector, tends not to compete on price and/or tends to offer a premium and/or highly 
customised product or service. A low composite score indicates that the employer tends 
not to do any of these things. 
Table 6.2  Overall composite Product Market Strategy scores 
Aggregate PMS score 
% of private sector 
UK establishments 
% of private sector 
UK employment 
1 to 7 
Very low 
4 
2 
8 to 10 
Low 
14 
7 
11 to 13 
Medium 
26 
17 
14 to 16 
High 
29 
23 
17 to 20 
Very high 
15 
15 
Base: All establishments in the private sector (75,997). 
Overall, a greater proportion of establishments are classified as having a high PMS score 
than a low one with approaching a fifth of establishments (18 per cent) categorised as 
having a ‘low’ or ‘very low’ product strategy compared to almost a half (44 per cent) 
categorised as having a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ product strategy. 
It should be noted that due to the different ways in which the PMS questions were asked 
in 2011, the potential for accurate time series comparisons by PMS score is limited and 
has not been presented in this report. 
 
 

 
103 
6.4.2 Profiling higher and lower composite PMS score employers 
Employers with a higher composite PMS score tend to be larger, on average, than those 
with a lower composite PMS score, although the differences are marginal, reflecting that 
the overwhelming majority of all establishments are small establishments with fewer than 
25 employees (see Table 6.3). When one is talking about employers with a high 
composite PMS rating, one is predominately talking about smaller establishments and if 
we pick up on differences between PMS groupings, it is unlikely that these will be driven 
(solely) by size.  
Table 6.3  Overall composite Product Market Strategy scores by size 
 
Very Low  
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very 
High 
Unweighted Base: 
2,818 
9,507 
19,333 
23,106 
12,729 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
68 
61 
55 
50 
47 
5-24 
28 
34 
37 
40 
41 
25-49 
2 
3 
4 
6 
7 
50-99 
1 
1 
2 
3 
3 
100-249 
* 
1 
1 
2 
2 
250+ 
* 
* 
* 
1 
1 
Base: All establishments in the private sector (75,997). 
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5. 
Table A.6.4 in Annex A provides further detail on the characteristics of employers in each 
PMS category in terms of country and sector. In short: 
 
Establishments with a ‘very high’ PMS score are disproportionately likely to operate in 
the Business Services and Wholesale and Retail services sectors (combined, these 
two sectors account for 46 per cent of all ‘very high’ PMS employers, compared to 41 
per cent of all establishments).  
 
At the other end of the scale, employers with a ‘very low’ PMS score are 
disproportionately likely to be based in Wales (nine per cent, compared to five per 
cent of all establishments) and to be engaged in Agriculture (16 per cent compared to 
five per cent) or Construction (15 per cent compared to nine per cent).  
 
 

 
104 
6.4.3 Relationship between PMS and skills shortages 
As discussed in chapter two, 15 per cent of all establishments have at least one vacancy, 
a figure that falls to 14 per cent if one considers only those operating in the private 
sphere. When differentiating these establishments based on their product market 
strategies it is clear that employers with a higher PMS score are more active in the 
recruitment market: 19 per cent of those with a very high score had a vacancy at the time 
of interview, compared with only eight per cent of establishments with a ‘very low’ score. 
In line with this, establishments at the higher end of the PMS scale were also more likely 
to report both hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies compared to those at the 
lower end of the scale (see Figure 6.4).  
Figure 6.4  Incidence of vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies by 
Product Market Strategy classification 
 
8%
10%
12%
16%
19%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
Very low PMS
Low PMS
Medium PMS
High PMS
Very high PMS
Vacancies
Hard-to-filll vacancies
Skill shortage vacancies
Base:
Base: All establishments in the private sector , in each PMS group
(2,818)
(9,507)
(19,333)
(23,106)
(12,729)

 
105 
However, if one focuses on the proportion of all vacancies which are hard-to-fill and the 
proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies where skill shortages were reported, a different picture 
emerges. Recruitment difficulties are broadly more pronounced among employers with a 
lower composite PMS score than among those with a higher PMS score, in the sense 
that a greater proportion of their vacancies are hard-to-fill – although the relationship is 
not linear. On the other hand, the role that skill shortages play in this difficulty is slightly 
more marked among employers with a high composite PMS score – where a greater 
proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies are attributed to a lack of skills among job applicants 
(see Figure 6.5). 
Figure 6.5  Proportion of all vacancies that were hard-to-fill and that were skill-shortage 
vacancies by Product Market Strategy classification 
 
There are notable differences in the types of occupations where employers experience 
hard-to-fill and skill-shortage vacancies depending on their product market strategies. As 
detailed in Table A.6.5 and Table A.6.6 in Annex A, employers at the lower end of the 
PMS index experience greater difficulty in recruiting among the Skilled Trades, Sales and 
Customer Service and Machine Operatives occupations. On the other hand, employers at 
the higher end of the PMS index experience most difficulty in recruiting Professionals and 
Associate Professionals. 
 
 
50%
28%
38%
30%
31%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Very low PMS
Low PMS
Medium PMS
High PMS
Very high PMS
Proportion of vacancies that are
hard-to-fill
Skill-shortage vacancies as a
proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies
Base:
Base: All establishments in each PMS group with vacancies
(261)
(1,299)
(3,393)
(5,126)
(3,194)

 
106 
6.4.4 The relationship between PMS and skills gaps  
It was detailed in chapter three that 15 per cent of all employers identify at least some 
skills gaps amongst their employees: this figure was consistent across both public and 
private sector establishments. This section examines the incidence and prevalence of 
skills gaps among private sector establishments with differing Product Market Strategies. 
As detailed in Table 6.4, the relationship between an establishment’s product market 
positioning and the incidence of skills gaps is not entirely linear, though employers at the 
higher end of the PMS index are more likely to have skills gaps among their staff than 
those at the lower end. However, the proportion of the workforce that is affected by skills 
gaps is fairly consistent across the differing categories of the PMS index. It does appear 
likely that the differing size profiles of employers with a high composite PMS score and 
those with a low composite PMS score drives this difference (see Table A.6.7 in Annex 
A). 
Table 6.4  Incidence, volume and density of skills gaps by Product Market Strategy 
classification 
 
Very low 
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very 
high 
Unweighted Base 
2,818 
9,507 
19,333 
23,106 
12,729 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% of establishments 
with a skills gap 
12 
14 
16 
17 
16 
% of workforce with 
skills gaps 
5 
7 
6 
6 
5 
Base: All private sector establishments in each PMS classification. 
Number of skills gaps rounded to nearest 100. 
‘Percentage of workforce with skills gaps’ is shown as a proportion of all private sector employment 
When considering the causes of skills gaps, there is a clear trend for establishments with 
a higher product market positioning to attribute their skills gaps to staff being new to the 
role and, related to this, training only being partially complete (see Table 6.5). This 
perhaps reflects the fact that employers at the higher end of the PMS index were more 
likely to be active in the recruitment market than those with a lower PMS rating. It can 
take time for new staff to reach full proficiency and so it could be that the skills gaps 
within higher PMS establishments are more transient than those in the lower PMS 
categories.  
 
 

 
107 
Table 6.5  Main causes of skills gaps (prompted), by Product Market Strategy 
 
 
Very low 
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very 
high 
Unweighted Base 
504 
2066 
4743 
5638 
2801 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Staff are new to the role 
47 
56 
58 
61 
63 
Their training is currently 
only partially completed 
48 
59 
60 
61 
63 
Staff lack motivation 
39 
36 
36 
33 
30 
They have been on 
training but their 
performance has not 
improved sufficiently 
26 
30 
32 
32 
29 
The introduction of new 
working practices 
25 
25 
27 
26 
27 
Staff have not received the 
appropriate training 
28 
29 
29 
27 
25 
Unable to recruit staff with 
the required skills 
24 
25 
24 
23 
23 
The introduction of new 
technology 
21 
20 
19 
20 
21 
The development of new 
products and service 
16 
17 
20 
21 
23 
Problems retaining staff 
11 
11 
11 
11 
10 
Summary: New to role 
and/or training incomplete 
64 
74 
75 
77 
78 
Base: All establishments in the private sector with skills gaps; up to two skills gaps followed up. 
Percentages shown as a proportion of all skills gaps followed up. 
6.4.5 The relationship between PMS and training 
Figure 6.6 illustrates a linear relationship between an establishment’s product market 
strategies and their level of training activity. As the PMS index increases the proportion of 
establishments that train also increases (from 47 per cent in establishments in the ‘very 
low’ group to 71 per cent in the ‘very high’ group) as well as the proportion of staff that 
are trained within each establishment (from 43 per cent in establishments in the ‘very low’ 
group to 64 per cent in the ‘very high’ group). 
 
 

 
108 
Figure 6.6  Incidence of training by Product Market Strategy classification 
   
This pattern of increasing proportions of employers training and an increasing proportion 
of the workforce being trained as one moves through the composite PMS score 
groupings mirrors the pattern of training activity by size of establishment that was 
presented in chapter four. However, the pattern here does appear to be driven by PMS 
position rather than by establishment size or by other characteristics. If one looks at 
employers with different composite PMS scores within each size band it is invariably the 
employers with the higher PMS score who are most likely to train. Similarly, within size 
band the proportion of staff trained is greater for those operating at the higher end of the 
PMS index (see Table A.6.8 in Annex A). So, like for like, employers operating higher 
product market strategies appear to identify a greater need for skill development among 
their staff. 
6.5 
Conclusions 
In previous chapters of the report we have observed how employers of different sizes 
operating in different sectors in different parts of the UK experience skill deficiencies and 
training differently. 
47%
55%
63%
69%
71%
43%
49%
54%
60%
64%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Very low PMS
Low PMS
Medium PMS
High PMS
Very high PMS
Percentage of establishments that train
Proportion of staff trained
Base: All private sector establishments in each PMS group
Base:
(2,818)
(9,507)
(19,333)
(23,106)
(12,729)

 
109 
This chapter has looked at employers from a different perspective, focusing on business 
and management strategy rather than firmographics. It has grouped employers according 
to whether or not they pursue High Performance Working practices and according to the 
nature of their Product Market Strategies. 
The interest is in particular on employers with a high PMS as these are employers with 
the potential to deliver sustainable business growth.  Similarly, evidence suggests that 
employers who adopt High Performance Working practices are more productive and 
profitable than those who don’t. Therefore, if these employers are unable to access the 
skills they require (from the external labour market and/or from their existing workforce) 
and/or the training services that will develop these skills, then the potential impact on the 
UK economy is great. 
The evidence of this chapter by and large works to allay these fears of high value 
employers being constrained in their operations. It has painted a picture of HPW 
employers and employers with a high composite PMS score who – while generally more 
active in the recruitment market than other employers – typically find it easier to fill their 
vacancies. They are generally more likely to report skill gaps – but the proportion of their 
workforce implicated is no greater than for other employers. And they are more likely to 
fund or arrange training for their employees (which will work to reduce these gaps). 
Nonetheless it has also suggested some pockets where HPW employers and employers 
with a high composite PMS score are challenged by skills deficiencies. There will be 
value in exploring these pockets more closely to understand how the market can work to 
meet their challenges.  
 
 
 

 
110 
7 
Conclusions 
This survey has painted a picture which supports indications that the country is 
emerging from the recession and economic downturn, with increased employer 
recruitment activity in 2013 compared with 2011. More employers had vacancies at the 
time of the interviews, and the number of vacancies (as a proportion of the workforce) 
had increased. 
There is potential, however, for skill shortages in the labour market to act as a 
brake on economic recovery, or at least as an impediment to some employers reaching 
their full growth and productivity potential.  
Although only a very small minority of establishments (four per cent) are affected by skill-
shortage vacancies, in total more than one in five vacancies (22 per cent) across the 
country are hard-to-fill due to skill shortages in the available labour pool. 
These skill shortages are concentrated in particular sectors and occupations, and are 
particularly likely to be found among Manufacturers, and where employers are recruiting 
for Skilled Trades and Professional roles. There have also been notable increases in the 
difficulty of recruiting suitably skilled Caring, Leisure and Other Services, Professionals, 
Associate Professionals and Machine Operative staff compared with 2011, suggesting 
these are areas where the labour market is facing growing challenges in meeting 
employer demand. 
In addition, some 1.4 million employees are regarded as not being fully proficient in their 
job roles, equating to 5.2 per cent of the total UK workforce. 
As with skill-shortage vacancies, skills gaps continue to be concentrated in certain 
pockets of the economy. People employed in what are traditionally described as unskilled 
or semi-skilled occupations – namely those in Elementary and Sales and Customer 
Service positions – remain the most likely to have skills gaps. From a sector perspective, 
skills gaps are particularly prevalent in the Hotels and Restaurants industry. 

 
111 
The existence of skill gaps may not necessarily indicate potential performance issues. In 
a relatively large proportion of cases the employees in question are new to their job role 
and/or are trainees, with the suggestion that their proficiency problems are temporary. In 
other cases, skill gaps could be an indication of employer awareness of skills issues, or 
higher expectations/ambitions. It is certainly the case that employers pursuing a strategy 
of High Performance Working and employers recording a high Product Market Strategy 
“score” (indicating that they are innovators, offering premium products or services) are 
more likely to report skill gaps (although the proportion of the workforce employed by this 
kind of progressive organisation that is lacking proficiency is no greater than the 
proportion of the general workforce with a skills gap). 
The most common response to having a skill gap is to provide (more) training. Overall, 
around two-thirds of employers arrange or fund at least some training for at least some of 
their workforce, a figure that has changed little since 2011. There have, however, been a 
number of quite marked changes in the extent and nature of training provision between 
2011 and 2013. In particular: 
 
There has been a marked increase in the proportion of staff trained since 2011; 
 
At the same time there has been a reduction in the amount of training individuals 
receive, with a marked fall in the average number of training days provided to 
each person trained; 
 
The net effect of these trends is a slight fall compared against 2011 in the total 
number of training days funded or arranged by UK employers. 
There has also been a fall in total training expenditure, driven mainly by a fall in 
expenditure: 
 
Among employers in England; 
 
Large employers with 100 or more staff; 
 
Employers in Public Administration and in Education; and 
 
In regard to on-the-job training. 
In this regard, the survey findings provide support for theories that the recession 
has led to employers ‘training smarter’ and ‘doing more for less’, with increased 
emphasis on in-house training, training employees as trainers, reduced use of external 
providers and enhanced use of e-learning26. 
                                                 
26 See Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work (UKCES 2013) 

 
112 
However, the survey also finds evidence of skills under-use: 4.3 million workers (16 per 
cent of the workforce) are reported by employers to have skills and qualifications 
that are more advanced than are required in their current job role. Better harnessing 
these latent capabilities might potentially yield wide-ranging benefits for some employers, 
and there is a need for further research to better understand the nature of skills under-
use, which employees are most affected by it, as well as its impact on both business 
performance and career progression. 
The survey also sheds some light on the issue of progression opportunities by paying 
particular attention to the recruitment of young people, an area in which there is 
significant current public and policy interest. Although the findings here suggest that there 
has been an increase in recruitment activity since the 2011 survey, and although most 
recruiting employers have recruited at least one young person over the last two to three 
years, there has been a fall in the proportion of employers recruiting young people 
from education across the UK as a whole.  
Around a quarter of employers recruited at least one education leaver in that period (27 
per cent, down from 29 per cent in 2011). Most of them found these recruits to be well or 
very well prepared for work. However, as many as four in ten employers taking on school 
leavers at 16 from schools in England, Northern Ireland or Wales described the recruits 
as poorly prepared (as do three in ten employers in Scotland taking new recruits from 
Scottish schools between the ages of 16 and 18). This highlights that employer views and 
experiences with young people differ depending on age and stage of education.  
However, the main obstacle to (more) young people getting new jobs is 
competition in the market place, rather than perceptions that young applicants do 
not have the capability to perform in the job role. Where the choice not to recruit a 
young applicant was motivated by a belief that the young person did not have the 
capabilities to do the job the main things lacking were skills and experience, and 
sometimes both. Three in five recruiting employers (61 per cent) who had not recruited a 
young person said they had had no applications from young people. 

 
113 
Employers who had recruited young people and/or education leavers over the past two to 
three years appeared to have a greater demand for (new) labour than other employers, 
being around twice as likely to have vacancies. They do not, however, appear to be more 
challenged in the labour market than other employers: their recruitment challenges are no 
more or less acute. These employers are though more challenged by skills in their 
existing workforce: they are more likely to have staff who were not fully proficient than 
other recruiting employers, and a larger proportion of their workforce lack proficiency. 
They are also more likely to train, and to fund and arrange training for a larger proportion 
of their workforce. These differences between those employers that had recruited young 
people and those that hadn’t are also worthy of further investigation to aid understanding 
of how to improve employment and progression opportunities for this group. 
Overall, the findings from the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013 make an 
important contribution to larger debates about skills and the labour market in the UK. The 
survey provides valuable insights into the range of skills issues employers are facing and 
their investment behaviour, and raises questions for further research. The findings 
highlight some positive developments that support indications of economic recovery, but 
they also identify some more concerning trends and priorities for action that need to be 
addressed if UK businesses are to realise their full potential. Whilst the survey findings 
show that skills shortages and skills gaps affect different employers in varied ways, 
looking to the future, the survey also finds that the majority of employers expect their staff 
to need to acquire new skills or knowledge over the next year. If the UK is to remain 
competitive in the global context it is vital to ensure that employers across the board are 
able to make full use of the skills and talents of their people to drive business 
performance and growth.  
 
 

 
114 
Annex A: Supplementary Tables 
Chapter 1: Introduction 
 
Table A.1.1  Profile of UK establishments and employment by sector 
 
 
Number of 
establishments 
% of 
establishments 
Number of 
staff  
% of employment 
UK 
1,743,847 
100 
26,959,038 
100 
Country  
 
 
 
 
England 
1,465,963 
84 
22,754,437 
84 
Northern Ireland 
55,603 
3 
726,311 
3 
Scotland  
140,948 
8 
2,308,322 
9 
Wales 
81,333 
5 
1,169,968 
4 
Size 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
907,729 
52 
2,393,653 
9 
5-24 
651,910 
37 
6,454,303 
24 
25-49 
96,839 
6 
3,332,905 
12 
50-99 
49,784 
3 
3,434,575 
13 
100-249 
26,105 
1 
4,021,603 
15 
250+ 
11,480 
1 
7,321,998 
27 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
94,386 
5 
382,834 
1 
Mining and Quarrying 
1,712 
* 
55,941 
* 
Manufacturing 
99,955 
6 
2,307,610 
9 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
9,339 
1 
282,213 
1 
Construction 
162,801 
9 
1,251,352 
5 
Wholesale and Retail 
372,433 
21 
4,424,002 
16 
Hotels and Restaurants 
155,283 
9 
1,799,551 
7 
Transport and 
Communications 
121,484 
7 
2,125,843 
8 
Financial Services 
40,030 
2 
1,033,880 
4 
Business Services 
348,735 
20 
4,468,096 
17 
Public Administration 
21,408 
1 
1,432,573 
5 
Education 
57,523 
3 
2,570,118 
10 
Health and Social Work 
130,010 
7 
3,597,950 
13 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service Activities 
128,748 
7 
1,227,074 
5 
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
 
 
 

 
115 
Table A.1.2  Profile of UK establishments and employment  
 Row percentages 
 
Unwtd 
Base: 
 
Private Sector  
Third Sector 
Public Sector 
Single site 
Multi-site 
UK 
91,279 
% 
86 
9 
4 
65 
35 
Country  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 
% 
87 
9 
4 
66 
34 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
% 
82 
10 
7 
70 
30 
Scotland  
6,014 
% 
82 
12 
6 
57 
43 
Wales 
5,996 
% 
86 
8 
6 
65 
35 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 
% 
89 
9 
1 
76 
24 
5-24 
51,565 
% 
86 
9 
5 
58 
42 
25-49 
10,947 
% 
75 
9 
15 
43 
57 
50-99 
5,584 
% 
70 
10 
19 
38 
62 
100-249 
2,938 
% 
68 
13 
18 
32 
68 
250+ 
1,187 
% 
67 
10 
23 
24 
76 
Sector  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
% 
99 
1 
* 
93 
7 
Mining and Quarrying 
138 
% 
99 
0 
1 
31 
69 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
% 
99 
* 
* 
76 
24 
Electricity, Gas and 
Water 
1,148 
% 
94 
4 
2 
65 
35 
Construction 
7,202 
% 
100 
* 
* 
88 
12 
Wholesale and Retail 
17,287 
% 
91 
9 
* 
46 
54 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
8,888 
% 
94 
5 
* 
64 
36 
Transport and 
Communications 
6,890 
% 
96 
2 
2 
73 
27 
Financial Services 
2,330 
% 
95 
3 
* 
46 
54 
Business Services 
14,011 
% 
95 
4 
1 
69 
31 
Public Administration 
942 
% 
29 
9 
61 
39 
61 
Education 
5,796 
% 
31 
22 
47 
67 
33 
Health and Social 
Work 
8,460 
% 
46 
43 
11 
52 
48 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service 
Activities 
7,358 
% 
63 
26 
10 
68 
32 
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
116 
Chapter 2: Employers’ Experience of Skill Shortages 
Table A.2.1  Incidence, number and density of vacancies by size and sector 
 
 
% of 
establishments 
with a vacancy 
(incidence) 
Number 
of 
vacancies 
Vacancies as 
a % of 
employment 
(density)  
Average 
(mean) 
vacancies per 
establishment 
with vacancies 
 
Base 
% 
Rounded to 
nearest 100 
% 
 
UK 
91,279 
15 
655,000 
2.4 
2.5 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 
15 
559,600 
2.5 
2.6 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
10 
15,200 
2.1 
2.6 
Scotland 
6,014 
15 
54,500 
2.4 
2.5 
Wales 
5,996 
14 
25,700 
2.2 
2.3 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 
8 
106,300 
4.4 
1.5 
5-24 
51,565 
17 
178,200 
2.8 
1.7 
25-49 
10,947 
33 
79,200 
2.4 
2.5 
50-99 
5,584 
43 
79,400 
2.3 
3.7 
100-249 
2,938 
58 
92,000 
2.3 
6.1 
250+ 
1,187 
64 
119,900 
1.6 
16.2 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
5 
5,500 
1.4 
1.3 
Mining and Quarrying 
138 
13 
1,700 
3.0 
7.3 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
15 
36,800 
1.6 
2.5 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
1,148 
17 
5,900 
2.1 
3.8 
Construction 
7,202 
7 
21,900 
1.8 
1.8 
Wholesale and Retail 
17,287 
12 
84,300 
1.9 
1.8 
Hotels and Restaurants 
8,888 
18 
66,300 
3.7 
2.3 
Transport and 
Communications 
6,890 
14 
49,100 
2.3 
2.9 
Financial Services 
2,330 
17 
27,000 
2.6 
3.9 
Business Services 
14,011 
15 
143,500 
3.2 
2.7 
Public Administration 
942 
27 
34,100 
2.4 
5.8 
Education 
5,796 
29 
47,200 
1.8 
2.8 
Health and Social Work 
8,460 
23 
86,600 
2.4 
2.9 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service Activities 
7,358 
16 
45,100 
3.7 
2.1 
Base: All establishments 
Percentages in Column 3 are shown as a proportion of all employment. 
Number of vacancies rounded to the nearest 100. 
 
  
 
 

 
117 
Table A.2.2  Incidence, number and density of vacancies by occupation (2011 vs 2013)  
 
% of 
establishments 
with vacancies 
who have a 
vacancy in 
occupation 
Number of 
vacancies 
Vacancy 
density  
 
Unwtd Base:  
Rounded to 
nearest 100 
Base: 
% 
2011 
17,093 
 
 
 
Managers 
6 
19,300 
987 
0.4 
Professionals 
14 
81,900 
3,025 
2.6 
Associate Professionals 
19 
96,500 
3,179 
5.3 
Administrative and Clerical 
16 
57,300 
2,648 
1.6 
Skilled Trades 
14 
51,900 
2,219 
2.8 
Caring, Leisure and Other services 
13 
70,000 
2,556 
3.0 
Sales and Customer Service 
14 
79,300 
2,275 
2.3 
Machine Operatives 
6 
35,600 
1,129 
1.8 
Elementary occupations 
15 
80,500 
2,844 
2.0 
TOTAL 
 
586,500 
 
2.2 
2013 
18,959 
 
 
 
Managers 
6 
24,000 
1,168 
0.5 
Professionals 
16 
97,400 
3,594 
3.1 
Associate Professionals 
19 
98,500 
3,406 
6.3 
Administrative and Clerical 
15 
67,100 
2,760 
2.0 
Skilled Trades 
13 
50,800 
2,600 
2.7 
Caring, Leisure and Other services 
15 
100,500 
3,232 
3.6 
Sales and Customer Service 
14 
76,200 
2,578 
2.1 
Machine Operatives 
6 
30,100 
1,197 
1.6 
Elementary occupations 
15 
79,400 
3,171 
2.1 
TOTAL 
 
655,000 
 
2.4 
Base: Column 1: all establishments with vacancies; Column 2: all establishments; Column 3: all 
establishments with vacancies in each occupation. 
Column 4 percentages are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; figures therefore show 
the number of vacancies as a proportion of all employment in each occupation 
Note: Vacancies are rounded to the nearest 100. Vacancy total is higher than the sum of vacancies by 
occupation as only six occupations per establishment were followed up. 
 
 

 
118 
Table A.2.3  Incidence, number and density of skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs) by country, 
size and sector 
 
 
% of 
establishments 
with a skill-
shortage 
vacancy 
Number of 
skill-shortage 
vacancies 
% of vacancies 
which are SSVs 
 
Base: 
% 
Rounded to 
nearest 100 
Base: 
% 
UK 
91,279 
4 
146,200 
18,959 
22 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 
4 
124,800 
15,894 
22 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
3 
2,900 
550 
19 
Scotland 
6,014 
4 
13,400 
1,499 
25 
Wales 
5,996 
4 
5,100 
1,016 
20 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 
2 
32,200 
1,403 
30 
5-24 
51,565 
5 
46,900 
8,969 
26 
25-49 
10,947 
8 
16,300 
3,653 
21 
50-99 
5,584 
10 
15,200 
2,435 
19 
100-249 
2,938 
15 
17,500 
1,737 
19 
250+ 
1,187 
18 
18,100 
762 
15 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
1 
1,600 
167 
28 
Mining and Quarrying 
138 
3 
300 
22 
** 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
5 
11,200 
1,347 
30 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
1,148 
5 
1,300 
185 
23 
Construction 
7,202 
2 
5,000 
706 
23 
Wholesale and Retail 
17,287 
3 
15,400 
2,983 
18 
Hotels and Restaurants 
8,888 
5 
12,400 
2,447 
19 
Transport and 
Communications 
6,890 
5 
12,900 
1,232 
26 
Financial Services 
2,330 
4 
2,800 
398 
10 
Business Services 
14,011 
5 
40,300 
3,147 
28 
Public Administration 
942 
6 
7,400 
283 
22 
Education 
5,796 
6 
5,700 
2,062 
12 
Health and Social Work 
8,460 
5 
19,200 
2,375 
22 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service Activities 
7,358 
4 
10,800 
1,605 
24 
Base: Column 1 and 2: all establishments; Column 3: all establishments with vacancies 
Percentages in Column 3 are based on all vacancies, rather than all establishments with vacancies; figures 
therefore show the proportion of vacancies caused by skill shortages  
Notes: The number of skill-shortage vacancies has been rounded to the nearest 100 
 
 
 

 
119 
Table A.2.4  Density of skill-shortage vacancies by country, size and sector (2011 vs 2013) 
 
% of vacancies which are SSVs 
 
 
2011 
2013 
 
Base: 
% 
Base: 
% 
UK 
17,093 
16 
18,959 
22 
Country 
 
 
 
 
England 
14,749 
15 
15,894 
22 
Northern Ireland 
520 
21 
550 
19 
Scotland 
729 
15 
1,499 
25 
Wales 
1,095 
18 
1,016 
20 
Size 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,389 
21 
1,403 
30 
5-24 
7,869 
17 
8,969 
26 
25-49 
2,972 
18 
3,653 
21 
50-99 
2,241 
11 
2,435 
19 
100-249 
1,698 
14 
1,737 
19 
250+ 
924 
8 
762 
15 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
87 
26 
167 
28 
Mining and Quarrying 
36 
17 
22 
** 
Manufacturing 
1,424 
24 
1,347 
30 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
205 
13 
185 
23 
Construction 
575 
18 
706 
23 
Wholesale and Retail 
2,549 
14 
2,983 
18 
Hotels and Restaurants 
2,078 
15 
2,447 
19 
Transport and Communications 
1,404 
14 
1,232 
26 
Financial Services 
331 
17 
398 
10 
Business Services 
2,945 
17 
3,147 
28 
Public Administration 
402 
10 
283 
22 
Education 
1,487 
10 
2,062 
12 
Health and Social Work 
1,992 
10 
2,375 
22 
Community, Social & Personal Service 
Activities 
1,578 
21 
1,605 
24 
Base: all establishments with vacancies 
Percentages are based on all vacancies, rather than all establishments with vacancies; figures therefore 
show the proportion of vacancies caused by skill shortages  
Notes: The number of skill-shortage vacancies has been rounded to the nearest 100 
“**” denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents); Figures in italics show 
base is below 50 and figures should be treated with caution. 
 
 

 
120 
Table A.2.5  Density of skill-shortage vacancies by occupation and sector 
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative / 
Clerical staff 
Skilled Trades 
occupations 
Caring, Leisure 
and Other 
Services 
Sales and 
Customer 
Services 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary staff 
UK 
20 
30 
26 
13 
39 
27 
13 
25 
13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
** 
** 
** 
** 
37 
** 
** 
** 
23 
Mining and Quarrying 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
26 
55 
28 
14 
41 
** 
18 
17 
4 
Electricity, Gas and 
Water 
 
49 
41 
9 
24 
** 
 
17 
5 
Construction 
31 
16 
19 
11 
29 
** 
7 
35 
9 
Wholesale and Retail 
22 
16 
30 
15 
45 
** 
13 
15 
14 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
25 
 
15 
19 
44 
16 
15 
14 
14 
Transport and 
Communications 
12 
34 
27 
12 
35 
** 
26 
28 
29 
Financial Services 
6 
12 
15 
8 
** 
** 
9 
** 
** 
Business Services 
25 
37 
34 
23 
49 
21 
12 
46 
13 
Public Administration 
** 
30 
13 
5 
** 
34 
** 
** 
** 
Education 
14 
13 
15 
6 
27 
12 
** 
** 
9 
Health and Social 
Work 
16 
32 
10 
7 
20 
28 
2 
** 
7 
Community, Social 
and Personal Services  15 
20 
23 
11 
20 
31 
10 
31 
3 
Base: All establishments with vacancies within each occupation by sector 
Densities are based on skill-shortage vacancies as a proportion of all vacancies within each occupation by 
sector, rather than the number of establishments with vacancies. 
‘**’ Figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 establishments with vacancies) 
Where base between 25 and 49 establishments with vacancies, figures are shown in italics 
 = density 30% or above 
 
 = density between 15% and 29% 
 
 = density between 1% and 14% 
 
X 
X 
X 

 
121 
Table A.2.5a  Bases for previous table (Table A.2.5) 
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative / 
Clerical staff 
Skilled Trades 
occupations 
Caring, Leisure and 
Other Services 
Sales and 
Customer Services 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary staff 
UK 
1,168 
3,594 
3,406 
2,760 2,600 3,232 
2,578 
1,197 
3,171 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
 
 
 
 
27 
 
 
 
95 
Mining and Quarrying 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manufacturing 
86 
187 
319 
177 
445 
 
113 
316 
98 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
13 
30 
29 
33 
33 
 
 
56 
32 
Construction 
50 
83 
97 
103 
312 
 
32 
73 
67 
Wholesale and Retail 
257 
93 
264 
263 
381 
 
1,750 
199 
283 
Hotels and Restaurants 
177 
 
60 
224 
711 
129 
117 
96 
1,741 
Transport and 
Communications 
54 
369 
335 
182 
150 
14 
121 
219 
79 
Financial Services 
25 
32 
133 
189 
 
 
74 
 
 
Business Services 
177 
839 
1,120 
649 
317 
158 
209 
141 
252 
Public Administration 
 
69 
86 
97 
 
82 
 
 
 
Education 
43 
1,227 
258 
268 
41 
678 
 
 
172 
Health and Social Work 
145 
551 
356 
272 
86 
1363 
33 
 
162 
Community, Social and 
Personal Services  
110 
106 
344 
292 
87 
776 
77 
25 
165 
 
 
 

 
122 
Table A.2.6  
Skills lacking in applicants by country  
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Base 
4,897 
4,057 
144 
427 
269 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Technical, practical or job 
specific skills 
63 
62 
69 
72 
69 
Oral communication skills  
41 
42 
45 
32 
42 
Planning and organisational 
skills  
41 
41 
60 
35 
44 
Customer handling skills 
40 
41 
37 
36 
38 
Written communication skills 
38 
38 
40 
31 
33 
Problem solving skills 
37 
37 
56 
33 
37 
Literacy skills 
34 
35 
35 
29 
28 
Team working skills 
33 
33 
49 
23 
31 
Strategic Management skills 
30 
30 
44 
32 
26 
Numeracy skills 
26 
26 
27 
28 
33 
Advanced IT or software 
skills 
22 
22 
21 
20 
18 
Foreign language skills 
17 
17 
34 
13 
9 
Basic computer literacy / 
using IT 
16 
16 
27 
15 
18 
Written Welsh language 
skills 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
15 
Oral Welsh language skills 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
13 
Base: All establishments with skill-shortage vacancies 
Percentages are based on all skill-shortage vacancies, rather than all establishments with skill-shortage 
vacancies; proportions therefore show the percentage of skill-shortage vacancies within each country caused 
by lack of each skill. 
 
 
 

 
123 
Table A.2.7  Skills lacking overall and by occupation (prompted) 
 
Overall 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative / 
Clerical staff 
Skilled Trades 
occupations 
Caring, Leisure and 
Other Services 
Sales and Customer 
Services 
Machine Operatives 
Elementary staff 
Base 
4,869 
269 
1,030 
860 
374 
1,026 
664 
407 
294 
452 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Technical, practical or 
job specific skills 
63 
59 
67 
72 
65 
72 
46 
56 
69 
51 
Oral communication 
skills 
41 
33 
29 
43 
46 
35 
43 
57 
28 
65 
Planning and 
Organisation skills 
41 
53 
26 
43 
58 
41 
39 
56 
30 
56 
Customer handling 
skills 
40 
40 
27 
44 
49 
30 
44 
62 
41 
52 
Written 
communication skills 
38 
31 
25 
40 
49 
37 
45 
46 
32 
36 
Problem solving skills 
37 
47 
23 
34 
51 
40 
39 
50 
31 
43 
Literacy skills 
34 
21 
23 
31 
46 
35 
42 
42 
33 
40 
Team working skills 
33 
34 
22 
31 
40 
29 
37 
44 
30 
52 
Strategic Management 
skills 
30 
48 
35 
33 
44 
28 
21 
34 
24 
22 
Numeracy skills 
26 
26 
14 
25 
45 
28 
28 
36 
33 
31 
Advanced IT or 
software skills 
22 
32 
31 
22 
39 
18 
14 
19 
12 
7 
Foreign language 
skills 
17 
19 
14 
17 
16 
19 
18 
21 
15 
22 
Basic computer 
literacy / using IT 
16 
22 
10 
15 
23 
17 
19 
26 
19 
13 
No skills difficulty 
reported 
4 
1 
4 
3 
2 
3 
9 
2 
6 
4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wales only 
Base: 
 
269 
 
10 
 
47 
 
33 
 
26 
 
80 
 
22 
 
23 
 
21 
 
30 
Written Welsh 
language skills  
15 
** 
27 
30 
12 
8 
** 
** 
** 
5 
Oral Welsh language 
skills 
13 
** 
24 
28 
12 
10 
** 
** 
** 
12 
Base: All establishments with skill-shortage vacancies 
Percentages are based on all skill-shortage vacancies, rather than all establishments with skill-shortage 
vacancies; proportions therefore show the percentage of skill-shortage vacancies within each occupation 
caused by lack of each skill. 
Note: Column percentages exceed 100 per cent because of multiple responses; skill-shortage vacancies 
unable to be coded to an occupational group have been included in the “Overall” figures, though have not 
been included in the more detailed breakdown 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents); Figures in italics denote 
base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 
 
 
 

 
124 
Table A.2.8  Ratio of skill-shortage vacancies to vacancies that are hard-to-fill for other non 
skills-related reasons by nation, size and sector 
 
 
Number of 
skill-
shortage 
vacancies 
Number of 
‘other’ hard-
to-fill 
vacancies 
% of hard-to-fill 
vacancies that 
are a result of 
skill shortages  
 
Base 
Rounded to 
nearest 100 
Rounded to 
nearest 100 
% 
UK 
6,133 
146,200 
43,100 
77 
Country 
 
 
 
 
England 
5,073 
124,800 
35,200 
78 
Northern Ireland 
181 
2,900 
1,100 
73 
Scotland 
538 
13,400 
4,800 
74 
Wales 
341 
5,100 
2,100 
71 
Size 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
536 
32,200 
13,300 
71 
5-24 
3,033 
46,900 
12,500 
79 
25-49 
1,115 
16,300 
6,200 
72 
50-99 
697 
15,200 
5,100 
75 
100-249 
528 
17,500 
4,900 
78 
250+ 
224 
18,100 
1,200 
94 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
74 
1,600 
600 
71 
Mining and Quarrying 
5 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
530 
11,200 
1,600 
87 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
65 
1,300 
200 
90 
Construction 
249 
5,000 
2,400 
67 
Wholesale and Retail 
802 
15,400 
6,100 
72 
Hotels and Restaurants 
841 
12,400 
6,500 
66 
Transport and Communications 
499 
12,900 
3,200 
80 
Financial Services 
121 
2,800 
500 
85 
Business Services 
1,158 
40,300 
4,900 
89 
Public Administration 
83 
7,400 
2,800 
73 
Education 
480 
5,700 
2,100 
73 
Health and Social Work 
736 
19,200 
6,900 
74 
Community, Social & Personal 
Service Activities 
490 
10,800 
5,100 
68 
Base: Establishments with hard-to-fill vacancies. 
Percentages are based on all hard-to-fill vacancies, rather than all establishments with hard-to-fill vacancies; 
proportions therefore show the percentage of hard-to-fill vacancies within each occupation caused by skill 
shortages. 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents) 
 
 

 
125 
 
Table A.2.9 – Impact of SSV’s by nation 
 
Base: All establishments where all hard-to-fill vacancies caused by skills related issues 
‘-‘ denotes a figure of zero * indicates a figure of greater than 0 but less than 0.5 
 
 
 
  
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
Base 
4,675 
3,879 
136 
407 
253 
  
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Increase workload for other staff 
84 
83 
90 
91 
90 
Have difficulties meeting 
customer service objectives 
49 
48 
51 
57 
49 
Delay developing new products or 
services 
44 
43 
52 
43 
47 
Lose business or orders to 
competitors 
42 
42 
42 
41 
45 
Experience increased operating 
costs 
42 
42 
39 
39 
43 
Have difficulties introducing new 
working practices 
37 
36 
49 
44 
38 
Have difficulties meeting quality 
standards 
35 
34 
35 
41 
37 
Outsource work 
29 
29 
35 
26 
32 
Withdraw from offering certain 
products or services 
24 
24 
33 
24 
23 
Have difficulties introducing 
technological change 
21 
20 
27 
28 
24 
None of the above 
5 
5 
3 
4 
3 
Don’t Know 
* 
* 
- 
- 
- 
ANY IMPACT 
95 
95 
97 
96 
97 

 
126 
Table A.2.10  Profile of hard-to-fill vacancies  
 
 
Total number 
of hard-to-fill 
vacancies for 
those with 
vacancies 
% of 
vacancies 
hard-to-fill  
Average 
number of 
hard-to-fill 
vacancies for 
those with 
hard-to-fill 
vacancies 
Average 
number of 
hard-to-fill 
vacancies for 
those with 
vacancies 
 
Unwtd 
base 
 
% 
 
 
UK 
18,959 
189,300 
29 
2.1 
0.7 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
15,894 
16,000 
29 
2.1 
0.7 
Northern Ireland 
550 
4,000 
26 
2.0 
0.7 
Scotland 
1,499 
18,200 
33 
2.2 
0.8 
Wales 
1,016 
7,200 
28 
1.9 
0.7 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,403 
45,400 
43 
1.7 
0.7 
5-24 
8,969 
59,400 
33 
1.6 
0.6 
25-49 
3,653 
22,500 
28 
2.2 
0.7 
50-99 
2,435 
20,300 
26 
3.0 
0.9 
100-249 
1,737 
22,400 
24 
4.2 
1.4 
250+ 
762 
19,300 
16 
7.2 
2.2 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
167 
2,200 
40 
1.2 
0.5 
Mining and Quarrying 
22 
300 
20 
4.5 
1.1 
Manufacturing 
1,347 
12,800 
35 
2.2 
0.9 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
185 
1,500 
25 
2.2 
0.8 
Construction 
706 
7,400 
34 
1.8 
0.6 
Wholesale and Retail 
2,983 
21,500 
26 
1.7 
0.5 
Hotels and Restaurants 
2,447 
19,000 
29 
1.9 
0.7 
Transport and 
Communications 
1,232 
16,100 
33 
2.1 
0.9 
Financial Services 
398 
3,300 
12 
1.6 
0.4 
Business Services 
3,147 
45,200 
32 
2.1 
0.8 
Public Administration 
283 
10,200 
30 
5.3 
1.6 
Education 
2,062 
7,800 
17 
1.8 
0.5 
Health and Social Work 
2,375 
26,200 
30 
2.6 
0.9 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service 
Activities 
1,605 
15,900 
35 
2.3 
0.8 
Base: All establishments with vacancies 
Notes: The number of hard-to-fill vacancies has been rounded to the nearest 100 
 
 

 
127 
Table A.2.11  Main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies  
 
Country 
 
Size Band  
 
UK 
England 
Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
2-4 
5-24 
25-49 
25-99 
100-249 
250+ 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Base: 
6,133 5,073 
181 
538 
341 
536 
3,033 1,115 
697 
528 
224 
Low number of applicants 
with the required skills 
40 
41 
39 
40 
36 
38 
40 
38 
34 
42 
54 
Lack of work experience the 
company demands 
25 
26 
32 
21 
24 
25 
24 
26 
16 
30 
35 
Not enough people 
interested in doing this type 
of job 
18 
18 
26 
15 
20 
19 
18 
18 
19 
18 
15 
Low number of applicants 
with the required attitude, 
motivation or personality 
18 
18 
15 
13 
18 
21 
20 
16 
23 
9 
10 
Lack of qualifications the 
company demands 
18 
18 
22 
17 
9 
16 
18 
14 
11 
14 
34 
Poor terms and conditions 
(e.g. pay) offered for post 
13 
13 
11 
16 
16 
16 
11 
13 
14 
21 
7 
Low number of applicants 
generally 
13 
13 
13 
13 
17 
11 
13 
14 
16 
14 
15 
Job entails shift 
work/unsociable hours 
10 
9 
9 
10 
21 
7 
11 
11 
9 
14 
10 
Too much competition from 
other employers 
9 
8 
13 
12 
6 
5 
5 
7 
16 
12 
20 
Remote location/poor public 
transport 
8 
7 
9 
17 
19 
6 
8 
11 
9 
12 
5 
Poor career progression / 
lack of prospects 
3 
3 
3 
1 
4 
5 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
Base: All establishments with hard-to-fill vacancies 
Percentages are based on all hard-to-fill vacancies. 
Reasons mentioned in more than one per cent of cases shown. 
 
 

 
128 
Chapter 3: The Internal Skills Challenge 
Table A.3.1  Incidence, number and density of skills gaps by size and sector (2013 vs. 2011) 
 
 
 
2011 
 
 
 
2013 
 
 
 
% of establishments with 
any skills gaps 
Number of staff not fully 
proficient (skills gaps) 
% of staff reported as 
having skills gaps  
 
% of establishments with 
any skills gaps 
Number of staff not fully 
proficient (skills gaps) 
% of staff reported as 
having skills gaps  
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Row percentages 
UK 
86,522 
17 
1,485,500 
5.5 
91,279 
15 
1,409,900 
5.2 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
17,905 
8 
85,600 
3.6 
19,058 
7 
69,900 
2.9 
5-24 
47,770 
23 
352,800 
5.5 
51,565 
21 
315,600 
4.9 
25-49 
10,239 
35 
185,200 
5.5 
10,947 
32 
169,500 
5.1 
50-99 
5,712 
39 
186,900 
5.5 
5,584 
36 
178,100 
5.2 
100-249 
3,270 
44 
235,800 
5.8 
2,938 
44 
221,100 
5.5 
250 + 
1,626 
47 
439,100 
6.0 
1,187 
48 
455,700 
6.2 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
921 
11 
17,200 
4.6 
3,407 
9 
16,700 
4.4 
Mining and Quarrying 
185 
14 
1,800 
3.1 
138 
14 
4,100 
7.3 
Manufacturing 
7,653 
20 
145,100 
6.0 
7,422 
18 
134,800 
5.8 
Electricity, Gas and 
Water 
1,406 
19 
15,400 
5.6 
1,148 
18 
14,400 
5.1 
Construction 
6,576 
13 
64,900 
4.8 
7,202 
11 
59,100 
4.7 
Wholesale and Retail 
15,163 
19 
293,500 
6.6 
17,287 
17 
254,400 
5.8 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
8,421 
23 
155,600 
9.0 
8,888 
21 
159,400 
8.9 
Transport and 
Communications 
7,810 
15 
99,300 
4.6 
6,890 
13 
94,500 
4.4 
Financial Services 
1,853 
21 
46,000 
4.4 
2,330 
19 
83,800 
8.1 
Business Services 
14,297 
13 
220,900 
5.1 
14,011 
13 
224,100 
5.0 
Public Administration 
1,584 
23 
83,000 
5.3 
942 
20 
69,000 
4.8 
Education 
5,422 
22 
94,900 
3.8 
5,796 
18 
97,700 
3.8 
Health and Social 
Work 
8,067 
20 
180,200 
5.2 
8,460 
19 
143,600 
4.0 
Community, Social 
and Personal Services 
activities  
7,164 
16 
67,800 
5.6 
7,358 
14 
54,200 
4.4 
Base: Columns one and four all establishments; remainder all employment. 
Note: The number of employees not fully proficient has been rounded to the nearest 100. 
Percentages are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; proportions therefore show the 
percentage of staff with a skills gap. 

 
129 
Table A.3.2  Proportion of each occupation lacking full proficiency within country  
 
UK 
England Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Managers 
3 
3 
2 
3 
3 
Professionals 
4 
4 
2 
5 
3 
Associate Professionals 
5 
5 
2 
5 
4 
Administrative / clerical staff 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
Skilled trades occupations 
6 
5 
7 
7 
6 
Caring, leisure and other services  
5 
4 
5 
6 
9 
Sales and customer services staff 
8 
8 
10 
7 
7 
Machine operatives 
5 
5 
7 
7 
7 
Elementary staff  
7 
7 
6 
8 
9 
Base: All establishments with staff in each occupation 
Percentages are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; proportions therefore show the 
percentage of staff with a skills gap. 
 
 
 

 
130 
Table A.3.3 Density of skills gaps by occupation and sector 
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative and 
Clerical  
Skilled Trades  
Caring, Leisure 
and Other Services 
Sales and 
Customer Service 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary 
occupations 
UK 
3 
4 
5 
5 
6 
5 
8 
5 
7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1 
3 
4 
2 
4 
** 
4 
6 
10 
Mining and Quarrying 
5 
** 
** 
7 
9 
** 
** 
11 
2 
Manufacturing 
3 
5 
7 
5 
6 
5 
6 
7 
6 
Electricity, Gas and 
Water 
3 
4 
4 
4 
5 
** 
3 
7 
8 
Construction 
4 
5 
7 
4 
5 
** 
4 
3 
7 
Wholesale and Retail 
3 
4 
8 
4 
5 
4 
7 
5 
6 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
4 
3 
7 
5 
8 
6 
14 
10 
10 
Transport and 
Communications 
3 
5 
5 
4 
6 
2 
8 
3 
3 
Financial Services 
7 
9 
4 
7 
** 
** 
11 
** 
14 
Business Services 
2 
4 
5 
6 
4 
4 
7 
5 
11 
Public Administration 
4 
5 
6 
6 
3 
5 
4 
* 
3 
Education 
3 
4 
7 
4 
4 
4 
4 
21 
5 
Health and Social 
Work 
2 
2 
3 
4 
3 
5 
11 
3 
4 
Community, Social 
and Personal Services  
2 
2 
3 
4 
6 
5 
6 
6 
7 
Base: All establishments employing each occupation by sector 
Densities are based on skills gaps as a proportion of all employment within each occupation by sector, rather 
than the number of establishments with skills gaps. 
‘**’ Figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 establishments employing occupation) 
‘-‘ denotes a figure of zero * indicates a figure of greater than 0 but less than 0.5 
Where base between 25 and 49 establishments with vacancies, figures are shown in italics 
 = density 10% or above 
 
 = density between 5% and 9% 
 
 = density between 1% and 4% 
 
 
 
X 
X 
X 

 
131
Table A.3.4  Causes of Skills Gaps, by occupation 
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative 
and Clerical 
Skilled Trades 
Caring, 
Leisure and 
Other services 
Sales and 
Customer 
Service 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary 
occupations 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Base: 
3,673 
1,568 
1,369 
3,909 
3,032 
2,340 
4,840 
1,488 
4,630 
New to the role 
44 
58 
59 
54 
52 
62 
60 
53 
54 
Training only partially completed 
45 
61 
66 
54 
67 
63 
54 
54 
53 
Staff lack motivation 
31 
28 
23 
27 
26 
34 
36 
33 
41 
Been on training but performance not 
improved sufficiently  
26 
29 
24 
26 
24 
31 
35 
27 
34 
Introduction of new working practices  
33 
26 
26 
30 
21 
31 
25 
22 
21 
Not received appropriate training  
34 
23 
24 
27 
26 
27 
22 
23 
22 
Unable to recruit staff with required 
skills 
20 
21 
20 
16 
26 
22 
19 
27 
22 
Development of new products and 
services 
20 
19 
22 
19 
17 
17 
21 
13 
13 
Introduction of new technology 
23 
20 
20 
25 
19 
15 
17 
20 
12 
Problems retaining staff 
10 
9 
8 
6 
8 
11 
11 
8 
13 
Summary: New to role / training not 
complete (transient factors)  
60 
76 
78 
68 
78 
79 
72 
68 
69 
Base: All establishments with skills gaps in each occupation – up to two occupations followed up 
Percentages are based on all skills gaps, rather than all establishments with skills gaps; proportions therefore show the percentage of skills gaps attributed to each cause.

 
132
Table A.3.5  Skills lacking among staff with skills gaps followed up, by occupation 
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative 
and Clerical 
Skilled Trades 
Caring, 
Leisure and 
Other services 
Sales and 
Customer 
Service 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary 
occupations 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Base: 
3,673 
1,568 
1,369 
3,909 
3,032 
2,340 
4,840 
1,488 
4,630 
Technical, practical or job-specific 
37 
59 
55 
66 
68 
56 
56 
68 
58 
Planning and organisation 
70 
61 
55 
67 
51 
62 
55 
42 
51 
Team working 
56 
46 
44 
53 
40 
64 
52 
53 
60 
Customer handling 
34 
36 
35 
57 
34 
54 
71 
23 
58 
Problem solving 
52 
45 
40 
53 
47 
51 
49 
52 
47 
Oral communication 
45 
40 
35 
45 
35 
50 
51 
48 
54 
Written communication 
32 
35 
33 
48 
30 
58 
25 
39 
34 
Basic computer literacy / using IT 
21 
18 
17 
38 
18 
41 
23 
35 
23 
Strategic Management 
65 
42 
29 
20 
21 
15 
20 
12 
16 
Literacy 
13 
16 
16 
27 
23 
48 
18 
39 
24 
Advanced IT or software 
33 
33 
26 
44 
17 
24 
16 
15 
11 
Numeracy 
13 
14 
11 
28 
19 
36 
23 
31 
22 
Foreign language 
8 
11 
7 
7 
9 
21 
12 
13 
16 
Base: All establishments with skills gaps in each occupation – up to two occupations followed up 
Percentages are based on all skills gaps, rather than all establishments with skills gaps; proportions therefore show the percentage of skills gaps attributed to each cause.

 
133 
Table A.3.6  Actions taken to overcome skills gaps (prompted), by country  
 
UK 
England Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland Wales 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Base: 
20,228 
16,563 
733 
1,713 
1,219 
Increased training activity / spend or 
increase / expand trainee programmes 
68 
68 
58 
71 
65 
More supervision of staff 
60 
59 
57 
64 
61 
More staff appraisals / performance 
reviews 
51 
51 
49 
52 
49 
Implementation of mentoring / buddying 
scheme 
47 
47 
40 
48 
49 
Reallocating work 
37 
36 
38 
42 
39 
Changing working practices 
31 
31 
30 
33 
31 
Increasing recruitment activity / spend 
16 
16 
13 
15 
15 
Recruiting workers who are non-UK 
nationals  
10 
11 
9 
8 
8 
Any action taken 
86 
85 
77 
90 
86 
Base: All establishments will skills gaps  
 
 
 

 
134 
Table A.3.7  Incidence, number and density of staff who are both over-qualified and over-
skilled by size and sector (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
 
2011 
 
 
 
2013 
 
Row percentages 
 
% of establishments 
reporting skills 
under-use 
Number of over-
qualified and over-
skilled staff 
% of staff reported as 
being over-qualified 
and over-skilled 
 
% of establishments 
reporting skills 
under-use 
Number of over-
qualified and over-
skilled staff 
% of staff reported as 
being over-qualified 
and over-skilled 
 
Base 
 
Base 
 
UK 
86,522 
48 
4,168,000 
15 
45,644 
48 
4,283,000 
16 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4  
17,905 
47 
714,000 
30 
9,532 
47 
728,000 
30 
5-24 
47,770 
48 
1,205,000 
19 
25,704 
48 
1,208,000 
19 
25-49 
10,239 
50 
453,000 
13 
5,545 
51 
490,000 
15 
50-99 
5,712 
50 
407,000 
12 
2,802 
51 
445,000 
13 
100-249 
3,270 
49 
467,000 
12 
1,472 
50 
479,000 
12 
250+ 
1,626 
48 
922,000 
13 
589 
48 
934,000 
13 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
921 
38 
70,000 
19 
1,725 
38 
73,000 
19 
Mining and Quarrying 
185 
44 
15,000 
26 
76 
41 
4,000 
6 
Manufacturing 
7,653 
41 
234,000 
10 
3,763 
39 
233,000 
10 
Electricity, Gas and 
Water 
1,406 
42 
27,000 
10 
571 
45 
36,000 
13 
Construction 
6,576 
41 
226,000 
17 
3,623 
40 
181,000 
14 
Wholesale and Retail 
15,163 
51 
760,000 
17 
8,731 
50 
762,000 
17 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
8,421 
61 
438,000 
25 
4,359 
60 
426,000 
24 
Transport and 
Communications 
7,810 
45 
297,000 
14 
3,427 
44 
321,000 
15 
Financial Services 
1,853 
51 
165,000 
16 
1,169 
50 
125,000 
12 
Business Services 
14,297 
45 
659,000 
15 
6,939 
44 
704,000 
16 
Public Administration 
1,584 
53 
216,000 
14 
480 
53 
135,000 
9 
Education 
5,422 
53 
337,000 
13 
2,907 
54 
321,000 
12 
Health and Social 
Work 
8,067 
50 
475,000 
14 
4,221 
53 
701,000 
19 
Community, Social 
and Personal Services 
activities  
7,164 
52 
250,000 
21 
3,653 
52 
260,000 
21 
Base: All establishments in Module 2 
Percentages are based on all employment, rather than all establishments; proportions therefore show the 
percentage of staff who are over-qualified and over-skilled 
Note: The number of employees reported as being over-qualified and over-skilled has been rounded to the 
nearest 1,000. 

 
135 
Table A.3.8  Skills which need improving or updating in the next 12 months, by the single occupation most affected by upskilling need  
 
Managers 
Professionals 
Associate 
Professionals 
Administrative 
and Clerical 
Skilled Trades 
Caring, 
Leisure and 
Other services 
Sales and 
Customer 
Service 
Machine 
Operatives 
Elementary 
occupations 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Base: 
11,552 
3,369 
1,666 
2,602 
3,423 
2,562 
3,966 
1,469 
2,021 
Technical, practical or job 
specific skills  
49 
70 
75 
55 
71 
61 
55 
70 
59 
Planning and organising skills  
44 
43 
43 
41 
38 
53 
50 
34 
47 
Problem solving skills 
32 
32 
35 
34 
35 
41 
44 
31 
44 
Advanced IT or software skills 
36 
48 
51 
49 
23 
20 
26 
17 
14 
Team working skills 
28 
30 
28 
27 
28 
53 
43 
30 
50 
Customer handling skills 
25 
24 
31 
31 
26 
43 
56 
21 
51 
Strategic management skills 
39 
32 
27 
27 
18 
24 
27 
12 
20 
Basic computer literacy / using IT 
24 
18 
17 
29 
23 
32 
28 
24 
25 
Oral communication skills 
18 
17 
18 
22 
18 
35 
34 
20 
38 
Written communication skills 
15 
17 
19 
20 
16 
36 
21 
15 
23 
Numeracy skills 
11 
11 
7 
16 
10 
18 
14 
11 
23 
Literacy skills  
10 
11 
8 
15 
11 
23 
15 
10 
18 
Foreign language skills 
11 
10 
8 
10 
5 
10 
12 
5 
11 
Base: All establishments who anticipate an upskilling need in next twelve months (Module 2) 

 
136 
 
 
Table A.3.9  Skills gaps and skill-shortage vacancies 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
% of 
establishments 
with any skills 
gaps 
% of 
establishments 
with a skill-
shortage 
vacancy 
% of 
establishments 
with either 
UK 
91,279 
15 
4 
18 
Country 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 
15 
4 
18 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
14 
3 
16 
Scotland 
6,014 
19 
4 
21 
Wales 
5,996 
16 
4 
18 
Size 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 
7 
2 
9 
5-24 
51,565 
21 
5 
24 
25-49 
10,947 
32 
8 
36 
50-99 
5,584 
36 
10 
40 
100-249 
2,938 
44 
15 
50 
250 + 
1,187 
48 
18 
56 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
9 
1 
10 
Mining and Quarrying 
138 
14 
3 
15 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
18 
5 
20 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
1,148 
18 
5 
21 
Construction 
7,202 
11 
2 
12 
Wholesale and Retail 
17,287 
17 
3 
19 
Hotels and Restaurants 
8,888 
21 
5 
23 
Transport and Communications 
6,890 
13 
5 
17 
Financial Services 
2,330 
19 
4 
21 
Business Services 
14,011 
13 
5 
17 
Public Administration 
942 
20 
6 
23 
Education 
5,796 
18 
6 
22 
Health and Social Work 
8,460 
19 
5 
22 
Community, Social and 
Personal Services activities  
7,358 
14 
4 
17 
Base: All establishments 
 

 
137 
Table A.3.10  Single occupation most affected by the need for upskilling 
Base: All establishments who employ staff in each occupation (Module 2) 
 
 
Table A.3.10a – Base sizes for previous table  
 
 
UK 
England Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Managers 
32 
32 
33 
31 
34 
Professionals 
40 
38 
43 
47 
43 
Associate Professionals 
29 
29 
31 
31 
26 
Administrative and Clerical 
12 
12 
13 
13 
13 
Skilled Trades 
31 
31 
34 
32 
34 
Caring, Leisure and Other services 
37 
37 
38 
42 
39 
Sales and Customer Service 
29 
30 
27 
29 
28 
Machine Operatives  
21 
22 
24 
18 
21 
Elementary Occupations 
14 
14 
15 
15 
13 
 
UK 
England Northern 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Wales 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Managers 
44,018 
36,342 
1,915 
2,884 
2,877 
Professionals 
8,739 
7,135 
374 
698 
532 
Associate Professionals 
6,268 
5,118 
261 
550 
339 
Administrative and Clerical 
26,945 
22,249 
1,176 
1,958 
1,562 
Skilled Trades 
11,811 
9,638 
434 
965 
774 
Caring, Leisure and Other 
services 
6,973 
5,746 
290 
523 
414 
Sales and Customer Service 
13,690 
11,380 
603 
919 
788 
Machine Operatives  
7,002 
5,704 
271 
605 
422 
Elementary Occupations 
16,100 
13,117 
661 
1,296 
1,026 

 
138 
Chapter 4: Training and Workforce Development 
Table A.4.1  Incidence of training 2011 vs 2013 
 
2011 
2013 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any 
Training 
Any off-
job 
training 
Any on-
job 
training 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any 
Training 
Any off-
job 
training 
Any on-
job 
training 
 
 
% 
% 
% 
 
% 
% 
% 
UK  
86,522 
65 
47 
53 
91,279 
66 
49 
52 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
74,156 
65 
46 
52 
75,255 
66 
48 
52 
Northern Ireland 
3,921 
65 
48 
50 
4,014 
63 
49 
47 
Scotland 
2,487 
73 
53 
60 
6,014 
70 
53 
57 
Wales 
5,958 
63 
47 
50 
5,996 
62 
47 
48 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
17,905 
51 
34 
38 
19,058 
52 
36 
37 
5-24 
47,770 
77 
56 
64 
51,565 
77 
58 
63 
25-49 
10,239 
92 
75 
83 
10,947 
93 
77 
83 
50-99 
5,712 
95 
82 
87 
5,584 
95 
83 
88 
100-249 
3,270 
96 
84 
91 
2,938 
97 
87 
92 
250+ 
1,626 
97 
87 
94 
1,187 
97 
89 
93 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
921 
52 
37 
36 
3,407 
50 
40 
30 
Mining & 
Quarrying 
185 
76 
61 
65 
138 
69 
62 
58 
Manufacturing 
7,653 
61 
43 
48 
7,422 
59 
43 
45 
Electricity, Gas 
& Water 
1,406 
76 
60 
61 
1,148 
75 
60 
59 
Construction 
6,576 
58 
46 
38 
7,202 
56 
45 
37 
Wholesale & 
Retail 
15,163 
60 
36 
50 
17,287 
61 
40 
50 
Hotels & 
Restaurants 
8,421 
61 
38 
50 
8,888 
62 
39 
51 
Transport & 
Comms. 
7,810 
61 
42 
48 
6,890 
63 
46 
48 
Financial 
Services 
1,853 
76 
52 
67 
2,330 
77 
54 
66 
Business 
Services 
14,297 
67 
50 
52 
14,011 
67 
51 
52 
Public 
Administration  
1,584 
90 
73 
81 
942 
90 
73 
79 
Education 
5,422 
91 
80 
81 
5,796 
92 
80 
82 
Health & Social 
Work 
8,067 
89 
73 
78 
8,460 
89 
75 
77 
Community, 
Social & 
Personal 
Services  
7,164 
69 
50 
56 
7,358 
69 
52 
56 
Base: All establishments 
 
 
 

 
139 
Table A.4.2  Incidence of wider development activities (2013 and 2011) 
 
 
 
 
2013 
 
 
Row percentages 
2013 
Unwtd 
Base 
2011 
Unwtd 
Base 
 
Supervision 
guiding 
employees 
through their 
job role 
Opportunitie
s for staff to 
watch others 
carry out 
their roles 
Allowed 
to 
perform 
tasks 
beyond 
their job 
roles 
Any 
2013 
Any 
2011 
UK  
91,279 86,522 % 
74 
69 
66 
85 
82 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 74,156 % 
75 
69 
67 
85 
82 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
3,921 % 
70 
65 
60 
81 
83 
Scotland 
6,014 
2,487 % 
77 
72 
67 
86 
84 
Wales 
5,996 
5,958 % 
71 
66 
62 
81 
79 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 17,905 % 
63 
58 
58 
76 
73 
5-24 
51,565 47,770 % 
85 
80 
74 
93 
91 
25-49 
10,947 10,239 % 
92 
89 
79 
98 
96 
50-99 
5,584 
5,712 % 
94 
90 
79 
98 
97 
100-249 
2,938 
3,270 % 
96 
91 
83 
99 
98 
250+ 
1,187 
1,626 % 
96 
90 
84 
99 
99 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
921 
% 
52 
50 
44 
66 
69 
Mining & Quarrying 
138 
185 
% 
83 
66 
65 
90 
87 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
7,653 % 
70 
65 
60 
81 
79 
Electricity, Gas & Water 1,148 
1,406 % 
77 
70 
63 
86 
85 
Construction 
7,202 
6,576 % 
63 
55 
53 
74 
72 
Wholesale & Retail 
17,287 15,163 % 
76 
73 
70 
87 
83 
Hotels & Restaurants 
8,888 
8,421 % 
81 
73 
69 
88 
85 
Transport & Comms. 
6,890 
7,810 % 
69 
64 
63 
82 
80 
Financial Services 
2,330 
1,853 % 
85 
79 
75 
91 
90 
Business Services 
14,011 14,297 % 
73 
67 
67 
84 
81 
Public Administration  
942 
1,584 % 
89 
83 
78 
96 
95 
Education 
5,796 
5,422 % 
88 
86 
78 
96 
94 
Health & Social Work 
8,460 
8,067 % 
90 
83 
76 
95 
94 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
7,358 
7,164 % 
79 
73 
70 
88 
86 
Base: All establishments 
 
 
 

 
140 
Table A.4.3  Reasons for not funding or arranging training over the last 12 months 
(unprompted) 
 
2011 
2013 
 
UK 
UK 
England Northern 
Ireland Scotland Wales 
Unweighted Base 
19,363 20,704 
16,850 
1,095 
1,081 
1,678 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
All our staff are fully proficient / no 
need for training 
64 
69 
69 
64 
69 
68 
No money available for training 
11 
10 
10 
13 
10 
10 
Training is not a priority for the 
establishment 
9 
7 
7 
11 
8 
10 
No training available in relevant 
subject area 
7 
5 
5 
6 
4 
5 
Managers have lacked the time to 
organise training 
3 
3 
3 
4 
4 
3 
Employees are too busy to undertake 
training 
2 
2 
2 
3 
4 
3 
Employees are too busy to give 
training 
1 
2 
2 
3 
3 
3 
External courses are too expensive 
2 
2 
2 
3 
2 
1 
Learn by experience/as you go 
3 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
Business not operating long 
enough/New business 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
Small firm/training not needed due to 
size of establishment  
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
Trained staff will be poached by other 
employers 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
Courses interested in not available 
1 
1 
* 
1 
1 
1 
No new staff (only train new staff) 
* 
1 
1 
* 
* 
* 
No particular reason 
5 
5 
5 
4 
4 
3 
Base: establishments that had not funded or arranged training or development in the previous 12 months. 
Note: responses are only shown if given by one per cent or more of respondents in 2013.  
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
 
 

 
141 
Table A.4.4  Whether trainers would have liked to provide more training, and if so the main 
barriers (prompted) 
 
 
% would have liked to provide 
more training 
 
 
Main barriers among those 
wanting to provide more training 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Unwtd 
Base 
 
Lack of funds/ training 
expensive 
Can’t spare time for 
employees to be training 
Difficulty finding provider to 
deliver where and when we 
want 
Lack appropriate training / 
qualifications in the subjects 
we need 
Not a management priority 
UK 2013 
69,842 
47 
34,140 
% 
60 
48 
4 
4 
4 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
57,787 
46 
27,735 
% 
60 
47 
4 
4 
4 
Northern Ireland 
2,894 
52 
1,545 
% 
64 
50 
6 
5 
3 
Scotland 
4,884 
53 
2,684 
% 
61 
56 
8 
4 
3 
Wales 
4,277 
50 
2,176 
% 
62 
51 
6 
4 
3 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,580 
44 
4,154 
% 
61 
45 
5 
5 
5 
5-24 
40,801 
49 
19,849 
% 
59 
50 
4 
4 
4 
25-49 
10,123 
50 
5,084 
% 
62 
52 
3 
4 
4 
50-99 
5,315 
51 
2,771 
% 
63 
51 
4 
2 
3 
100-249 
2,864 
56 
1,606 
% 
66 
51 
4 
3 
3 
250+ 
1,159 
59 
676 
% 
69 
54 
3 
2 
4 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1,710 
35 
602 
% 
45 
49 
7 
7 
4 
Mining & Quarrying 
103 
48 
44 
% 
34 
58 
2 
3 
1 
Manufacturing 
5,128 
45 
2,313 
% 
63 
49 
4 
6 
3 
Electricity, Gas & Water 
878 
42 
371 
% 
66 
46 
4 
4 
3 
Construction 
4,777 
43 
2,091 
% 
70 
44 
3 
4 
4 
Wholesale & Retail 
12,425 
46 
6,039 
% 
48 
52 
3 
4 
6 
Hotels & Restaurants 
6,761 
50 
3,619 
% 
53 
44 
3 
2 
6 
Transport & Comms. 
4,939 
48 
2,311 
% 
61 
47 
4 
5 
6 
Financial Services 
1,824 
43 
780 
% 
40 
55 
4 
4 
6 
Business Services 
11,127 
44 
4,944 
% 
62 
51 
4 
4 
3 
Public Administration  
861 
51 
436 
% 
63 
46 
6 
3 
3 
Education 
5,568 
54 
2,977 
% 
75 
46 
4 
5 
2 
Health & Social Work 
7,935 
55 
4,400 
% 
69 
48 
6 
6 
2 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
5,806 
55 
3,213 
% 
71 
44 
5 
4 
3 
Base: Column 1: Establishments who had funded or arranged any training in the previous 12 months; 
Columns 2-6 Establishments that had not funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months. 
Note: responses are only shown if given by one per cent or more of respondents in 2013. 
Figures in italics denote base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 

 
142 
Table A.4.5  Types of training provided over the last 12 months (prompted) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Row percentages 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unwtd  
Base 
 
Job specific 
Health & Safety 
Induction 
New technology 
Management 
Supervisory 
UK 2011 
66,439 
% 
85 
75 
57 
47 
35 
35 
UK 2013 
69,842 
% 
85 
74 
58 
48 
35 
34 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
57,787 
% 
85 
73 
58 
48 
36 
34 
Northern Ireland 
2,894 
% 
81 
75 
54 
48 
35 
34 
Scotland 
4,884 
% 
87 
74 
58 
51 
33 
34 
Wales 
4,277 
% 
87 
76 
58 
49 
37 
38 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,580 
% 
80 
60 
40 
46 
23 
22 
5-24 
40,801 
% 
86 
79 
64 
46 
36 
36 
25-49 
10,123 
% 
92 
92 
83 
53 
57 
53 
50-99 
5,315 
% 
94 
95 
88 
61 
66 
62 
100-249 
2,864 
% 
97 
97 
92 
70 
76 
73 
250+ 
1,159 
% 
97 
97 
93 
80 
89 
85 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1,710 
% 
79 
67 
26 
46 
14 
13 
Mining & Quarrying 
103 
% 
82 
90 
60 
38 
44 
46 
Manufacturing 
5,128 
% 
82 
79 
57 
46 
26 
29 
Electricity, Gas & Water 
878 
% 
87 
87 
67 
41 
40 
40 
Construction 
4,777 
% 
77 
79 
50 
35 
22 
28 
Wholesale & Retail 
12,425 
% 
84 
76 
62 
52 
42 
41 
Hotels & Restaurants 
6,761 
% 
84 
84 
69 
31 
42 
49 
Transport & Comms. 
4,939 
% 
84 
60 
46 
60 
26 
23 
Financial Services 
1,824 
% 
92 
63 
59 
58 
44 
38 
Business Services 
11,127 
% 
86 
59 
51 
54 
29 
25 
Public Administration  
861 
% 
92 
81 
67 
53 
54 
49 
Education 
5,568 
% 
92 
90 
73 
60 
60 
43 
Health & Social Work 
7,935 
% 
90 
86 
71 
40 
45 
45 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
5,806 
% 
85 
74 
56 
43 
31 
31 
Base: Establishments that had funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months. 

 
143 
Table A.4.6 Number employed and trained over the last 12 months by sector, and the 
proportion of the workforce trained 
 
 
2011 
 
2013 
 
 
 
Base 
% of staff trained 
Number 
employed 
(000s) 
Number 
trained 
(000s) 
% of staff 
trained 
Agriculture 
1,710 
39 
382 
158 
41 
Mining & Quarrying 
103 
46 
56 
30 
53 
Manufacturing 
5,128 
46 
2,308 
1,160 
50 
Electricity, Gas & Water 
878 
55 
282 
191 
68 
Construction 
4,777 
49 
1,251 
604 
48 
Wholesale & Retail 
12,425 
52 
4,424 
2,449 
55 
Hotels & Restaurants 
6,761 
55 
1,800 
1,063 
59 
Transport & Comms. 
4,939 
44 
2,126 
1,186 
56 
Financial Services 
1,824 
59 
1,034 
697 
67 
Business Services 
11,127 
52 
4,468 
2,701 
60 
Public Administration  
861 
61 
1,433 
962 
67 
Education 
5,568 
65 
2,570 
1,953 
76 
Health & Social Work 
7,935 
66 
3,598 
2,870 
80 
Community, Social & Personal 
Services  
5,806 
55 
1,227 
769 
63 
 
Base: Establishments that had funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months.  
Note: ‘the percentage of staff trained’ refers to the number of staff trained over the last 12 months (whether or 
not they still work at the establishment) as a percentage of the number of staff currently employed. 
 
 

 
144 
Table A.4.7  Average training days over the last 12 months per person trained 
 
 
 
Average days training per person trained 
Row percentages 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
 
1 day or 
less 
2 
3-4 
5-6 
7-10 
11+ 
UK 
69,842 
% 
12 
15 
20 
18 
18 
18 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
57,787 
% 
12 
15 
20 
18 
18 
18 
Northern Ireland 
2,894 
% 
12 
16 
22 
17 
18 
15 
Scotland 
4,884 
% 
11 
17 
20 
17 
17 
18 
Wales 
4,277 
% 
11 
14 
21 
19 
18 
17 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,580 
% 
13 
14 
20 
17 
17 
19 
5-24 
40,801 
% 
11 
16 
21 
17 
18 
18 
25-49 
10,123 
% 
11 
16 
21 
19 
18 
16 
50-99 
5,315 
% 
12 
17 
20 
22 
16 
13 
100-249 
2,864 
% 
14 
18 
21 
22 
14 
11 
250+ 
1,159 
% 
16 
17 
23 
27 
11 
8 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1,710 
% 
18 
22 
26 
20 
7 
7 
Mining & Quarrying 
103 
% 
8 
15 
19 
27 
17 
15 
Manufacturing 
5,128 
% 
15 
19 
19 
17 
17 
15 
Electricity, Gas & Water 
878 
% 
12 
15 
22 
18 
17 
14 
Construction 
4,777 
% 
12 
16 
21 
19 
16 
16 
Wholesale & Retail 
12,425 
% 
12 
14 
19 
15 
19 
20 
Hotels & Restaurants 
6,761 
% 
16 
15 
17 
12 
18 
21 
Transport & Comms. 
4,939 
% 
13 
17 
20 
17 
17 
16 
Financial Services 
1,824 
% 
7 
13 
19 
16 
18 
27 
Business Services 
11,127 
% 
11 
15 
21 
18 
18 
17 
Public Administration  
861 
% 
7 
15 
22 
23 
16 
18 
Education 
5,568 
% 
10 
15 
24 
29 
12 
11 
Health & Social Work 
7,935 
% 
7 
12 
22 
20 
21 
17 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
5,806 
% 
12 
15 
20 
17 
18 
19 
Base: Establishments that had funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months. 
 
 

 
145 
Table A.4.8 Total training and development days, and days per person trained and per 
employee by sector 2013 vs. 2011 
 
2011 
 
2013 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
training 
days 
Days 
per 
person 
trained 
Days 
per 
employ
ee 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Total 
training 
days 
Days 
per 
person 
trained 
Days per 
employee 
UK 
66,439 
115m 
7.8 
4.2 
69,842 
113m 
6.7 
4.2 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
548 
1.0m 
7.2 
2.8 
1,710 
0.9m 
5.7 
2.4 
Mining & Quarrying 
142 
0.09m 
3.5 
1.6 
103 
0.1m 
4.2 
2.2 
Manufacturing 
5,308 
8.9m 
7.9 
3.6 
5,128 
6.2m 
5.4 
2.7 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
1,070 
1.3m 
8.6 
4.7 
878 
1.7m 
9.0 
6.0 
Construction 
4,399 
4.6m 
6.9 
3.4 
4,777 
3.7m 
6.2 
3.0 
Wholesale & Retail 
11,001 
20.0m 
8.7 
4.5 
12,425 
19.3m 
7.9 
4.4 
Hotels & Restaurants 
6,185 
10.7m 
11.4 
6.2 
6,761 
9.6m 
9.1 
5.3 
Transport & Comms. 
5,430 
6.1m 
6.5 
2.9 
4,939 
6.8m 
5.8 
3.2 
Financial Services 
1,460 
4.1m 
6.6 
3.9 
1,824 
3.4m 
4.9 
3.3 
Business Services 
11,268 
15.2m 
6.7 
3.5 
11,127 
19.2m 
7.1 
4.3 
Public Administration 
1,444 
9.4m 
9.9 
6.0 
861 
7.4m 
7.7 
5.2 
Education 
5,117 
9.0m 
5.5 
3.6 
5,568 
9.6m 
4.9 
3.8 
Health & Social Work 
7,484 
18.2m 
7.9 
5.2 
7,935 
19.0m 
6.6 
5.3 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
5,583 
6.0m 
8.9 
4.9 
5,806 
5.9m 
7.7 
4.8 
Base: Establishments that had funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months.  
‘Days per employee’ is based upon employment across all establishments. 
 
 

 
146 
Table A.4.9  Training to nationally recognised qualifications in the last 12 months among 
employers that train 
Row percentages 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any staff 
trained to a 
qualification 
Number 
trained to a 
qualification 
% of those 
trained to a 
qualification 
% of all 
employees 
trained to a 
qualification 
UK 
69,842 
47 
3.6m 
21 
13 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,580 
36 
0.3m 
27 
11 
5-24 
40,801 
50 
0.9m 
26 
14 
25-49 
10,123 
63 
0.5m 
24 
15 
50-99 
5,315 
69 
0.5m 
23 
15 
100-249 
2,864 
75 
0.5m 
19 
13 
250+ 
1,159 
79 
0.8m 
16 
11 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1,710 
40 
* 
26 
11 
Mining & Quarrying 
103 
57 
* 
23 
12 
Manufacturing 
5,128 
44 
0.2m 
18 
9 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
878 
54 
* 
21 
14 
Construction 
4,777 
51 
0.2m 
33 
16 
Wholesale & Retail 
12,425 
39 
0.4m 
15 
8 
Hotels & Restaurants 6,761 
52 
0.2m 
22 
13 
Transport & Comms. 4,939 
39 
0.3m 
23 
13 
Financial Services 
1,824 
42 
0.1m 
15 
10 
Business Services 
11,127 
40 
0.5m 
20 
12 
Public Administration 
861 
61 
0.2m 
19 
13 
Education 
5,568 
64 
0.3m 
15 
11 
Health & Social Work 7,935 
65 
0.9m 
30 
24 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
5,806 
52 
0.2m 
29 
18 
Base: establishments that had funded or arranged training in the previous 12 months.  
Note the final column shows the proportion of all employees in that size band or sector that were trained to a 
qualification (not the proportion of employees within establishments that train). 
Note: * refers to a figure of less than 50,000 
 
 

 
147 
Table A.4.10  Total training expenditure and training spend per person trained and per 
employee by sector (2011 vs. 2013) 
 
 
2011 
 
2013 
 
 
 
Base 
Total 
Spend 
per 
person 
trained 
Spend 
per 
employee 
Base 
Total 
Spend 
per 
person 
trained 
Spend per 
employee 
UK 
11,027 £45.3bn 
£3,080 
£1,680 
12,522 £42.9bn £2,550 
£1,590 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
87 
£1.0bn 
£7,210 
£2,810 
297 
£0.4bn £2,600 
£1,080 
Mining & 
Quarrying 
29 
£0.07bn 
£2,570 
£1,190 
21 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
816 
£3.2bn 
£2,850 
£1,320 
846 
£2.5bn £2,190 
£1,100 
Electricity, Gas 
& Water 
137 
£0.3bn 
£2,000 
£1,100 
163 
£0.3bn £1,530 
£1,030 
Construction 
655 
£2.5bn 
£3,710 
£1,840 
893 
£2.5bn £4,060 
£1,960 
Wholesale & 
Retail 
1,815 
£5.0bn 
£2,160 
£1,120 
1,945 
£6.4bn £2,600 
£1,440 
Hotels & 
Restaurants 
1,055 
£3.3bn 
£3,530 
£1,930 
1,091 
£2.7bn £2,500 
£1,470 
Transport & 
Comms. 
862 
£2.9bn 
£3,140 
£1,380 
954 
£3.3bn £2,750 
£1,530 
Financial 
Services 
220 
£1.4bn 
£2,330 
£1,380 
369 
£1.3bn £1,880 
£1,270 
Business 
Services 
2.036 
£8.2bn 
£3,660 
£1,890 
2,337 
£8.6bn £3,170 
£1,920 
Public 
Administration  
231 
£3.8bn 
£3,980 
£2,410 
213 
£2.2bn £2,280 
£1,530 
Education 
558 
£6.2bn 
£3,780 
£2,440 
621 
£5.3bn £2,730 
£2,070 
Health & Social 
Work 
1,515 
£5.1bn 
£2,190 
£1,450 
1,540 
£5.1bn £1,790 
£1,420 
Community, 
Social & 
Personal 
Services  
1,011 
£2.2bn 
£3,340 
£1,840 
1,232 
£2.3bn £2,990 
£1,880 
Base: Establishments completing the Investment in Training study. 
Note: The figures for spend per person trained and per employee have been rounded to the nearest £10. 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents); Figures in italics denote 
base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 
 
 
 

 
148 
Table A.4.11  Training expenditure by sector, the proportion spent on off-the-job elements, 
and the breakdown of total training spend (both on-the job and off-the job training) by key 
elements 
Row percentages 
Base Expenditure 
on training 
% spent on 
off-the-job 
training 
 
Labour 
costs of 
trainees 
Wages 
of 
trainers 
Fees to 
external 
providers 
Other 
UK 
12,522 
£42.9bn 
50 
% 
50 
18 
8 
24 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
297 
£0.4bn 
58 
% 
43 
16 
10 
30 
Mining & 
Quarrying 
21 
** 
46 
% 
** 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
846 
£2.5bn 
43 
% 
54 
19 
9 
18 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
163 
£0.3bn 
63 
% 
35 
17 
11 
37 
Construction 
893 
£2.5bn 
51 
% 
47 
20 
9 
24 
Wholesale & 
Retail 
1,945 
£6.4bn 
41 
% 
49 
23 
7 
21 
Hotels & 
Restaurants 
1,091 
£2.7bn 
36 
% 
56 
23 
4 
18 
Transport & 
Comms. 
954 
£3.3bn 
45 
% 
55 
15 
8 
21 
Financial Services 
369 
£1.3bn 
43 
% 
48 
26 
9 
17 
Business Services 2,337 
£8.6bn 
50 
% 
49 
19 
10 
22 
Public 
Administration 
213 
£2.2bn 
49 
% 
59 
15 
6 
20 
Education 
621 
£5.3bn 
62 
% 
48 
12 
6 
34 
Health & Social 
Work 
1,540 
£5.1bn 
58 
% 
51 
15 
6 
28 
Community, 
Social & Personal 
Services 
1,232 
£2.3bn 
55 
% 
47 
16 
8 
30 
Base: establishments completing the Investment in Training study. 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents). 
The column ‘other’ includes such items as expenditure on training centres and on training management. 
 
 

 
149 
Table A.4.12  Training expenditure spent on Further Education colleges, Universities or 
other Higher Education institutions, and the proportion of the total fees to external 
providers that this represents 
Row percentages 
Base 
Total fees to 
external 
providers 
Total fees to 
FE/HE providers 
 
% of fees to 
external 
providers paid to 
FE/HE providers 
UK 
12,522 
£3.3bn 
£440m 
% 
13 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
8,704 
£2.8bn 
£371m 
% 
13 
Northern Ireland 
1,028 
£0.1bn 
£10m 
% 
13 
Scotland 
1,429 
£0.3bn 
£44m 
% 
15 
Wales 
1,361 
£0.1bn 
£15m 
% 
14 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2 to 4 
2,317 
£0.5bn 
£59m 
% 
12 
5 to 24 
6,953 
£1.0bn 
£161m 
% 
16 
25 to 49 
1,722 
£0.4bn 
£38m 
% 
9 
50 to 99 
928 
£0.4bn 
£49m 
% 
11 
100 to 249 
452 
£0.5bn 
£83m 
% 
16 
250+ 
150 
£0.4bn 
£49m 
% 
13 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
297 
£0.04bn 
£7m 
% 
16 
Mining & Quarrying 
21 
** 
** 
% 
** 
Manufacturing 
846 
£0.2bn 
£39m 
% 
17 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
163 
£0.03bn 
£1m 
% 
3 
Construction 
893 
£0.2bn 
£30m 
% 
14 
Wholesale & Retail 
1,945 
£0.4bn 
£43m 
% 
10 
Hotels & Restaurants 
1,091 
£0.1bn 
£13m 
% 
12 
Transport & Comms. 
954 
£0.3bn 
£16m 
% 
6 
Financial Services 
369 
£0.1bn 
£10m 
% 
9 
Business Services 
2,337 
£0.9bn 
£141m 
% 
16 
Public Administration 
213 
£0.1bn 
£17m 
% 
14 
Education 
621 
£0.3bn 
£47m 
% 
14 
Health & Social Work 
1,540 
£0.3bn 
£52m 
% 
16 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services 
1,232 
£0.2bn 
£24m 
% 
14 
 
Base: establishments completing the Investment in Training study. 
First column rounded to the nearest £0.01bn; second column to the nearest £1m 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents). 
 
 

 
150 
Chapter 5: Recruitment of Young People 
Table A.5.1  Recruitment of education leaver in past 2-3 years – by size and sector in 
England, Northern Ireland and Wales 
 
 
 
Base: All establishments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 
 
 
Row percentages 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any 
education 
leaver 
16 year 
old school 
leaver 
17-18 year 
old school 
leaver 
17-18 year 
old FEC 
leaver 
 
University
/ HE 
graduate 
 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
 
England/NI/Wales 
85,265 
27 
8 
10 
11 
14 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
17,949 
13 
3 
3 
4 
5 
5-24 
48,387 
37 
10 
14 
15 
17 
25-49 
10,078 
59 
18 
27 
29 
36 
50-99 
5,102 
67 
19 
32 
34 
46 
100-249 
2,674 
77 
24 
43 
44 
60 
250+ 
1,075 
81 
30 
51 
54 
69 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
2,888 
13 
5 
3 
5 
3 
Mining &Quarrying 
117 
18 
6 
8 
6 
8 
Manufacturing 
7,013 
25 
8 
10 
10 
9 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
1,062 
27 
6 
11 
9 
11 
Construction 
6,706 
18 
7 
6 
7 
4 
Wholesale & Retail 
16,296 
28 
11 
14 
14 
12 
Hotels & Restaurants 
8,317 
35 
14 
20 
20 
17 
Transport & Comms. 
6,444 
24 
5 
7 
8 
13 
Financial Services 
2,125 
27 
3 
9 
9 
18 
Business Services 
13,227 
25 
4 
7 
8 
17 
Public admin  
818 
30 
5 
12 
14 
21 
Education 
5,442 
50 
6 
13 
16 
39 
Health & Social Work 
7,892 
33 
5 
12 
17 
17 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
6,918 
31 
13 
12 
14 
12 

 
151 
Table A.5.2  Recruitment of education leaver in past 2-3 years – by size and sector in 
Scotland 
 
Base: All establishments in Scotland 
 ‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents); Figures in italics denote 
base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 
Row percentages 
 
 
Base 
Any 
Scottish 
education 
leaver 
Scottish 
School 
Leaver 
Scottish FE 
Leaver 
Scottish HE 
Leaver 
 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Scotland 
6,014 
26 
17 
11 
12 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,109 
13 
8 
5 
5 
5-24 
3,178 
32 
21 
12 
13 
25-49 
869 
57 
35 
29 
34 
50-99 
482 
63 
41 
35 
43 
100-249 
264 
70 
40 
42 
51 
250+ 
112 
79 
46 
55 
66 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
519 
15 
10 
5 
2 
Mining &Quarrying 
21 
** 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
409 
29 
22 
10 
9 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
86 
29 
19 
10 
10 
Construction 
496 
24 
19 
4 
5 
Wholesale & Retail 
991 
28 
20 
12 
11 
Hotels & Restaurants 
571 
30 
22 
17 
17 
Transport & Comms. 
446 
17 
9 
6 
7 
Financial Services 
205 
21 
10 
5 
13 
Business Services 
784 
24 
11 
8 
17 
Public admin  
124 
26 
9 
11 
18 
Education 
354 
35 
14 
16 
25 
Health & Social Work 
568 
37 
20 
18 
18 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
440 
30 
20 
15 
11 

 
152 
Table A.5.3 Recruitment of young people and education leavers, by nation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Row percentages 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
 
Any recruitment 
Any education leaver 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any young person 
Recruited young person 
from education only 
Recruited young person 
but not from education 
Recruited young people 
both from education 
and not 
UK 
91,279 
% 
64 
27 
45,644 
44 
12 
20 
13 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
75,255 
% 
64 
27 
37,559 
45 
12 
20 
13 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
% 
54 
22 
2,015 
35 
10 
17 
9 
Scotland 
6,014 
% 
67 
29 
3,044 
46 
12 
21 
13 
Wales 
5,996 
% 
61 
27 
3,026 
45 
13 
19 
13 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
19,058 
% 
45 
13 
9,532 
25 
8 
13 
4 
5-24 
51,565 
% 
81 
36 
25,704 
60 
17 
27 
16 
25-49 
10,947 
% 
95 
59 
5,545 
82 
19 
28 
35 
50-99 
5,584 
% 
97 
67 
2,802 
87 
18 
26 
43 
100-249 
2,938 
% 
98 
77 
1,472 
93 
15 
21 
57 
250+ 
1,187 
% 
99 
81 
589 
94 
11 
16 
67 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
% 
34 
13 
1,725 
23 
12 
20 
13 
Mining & Quarrying 
138 
% 
58 
20 
76 
41 
9 
11 
3 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
% 
62 
26 
3,763 
42 
12 
21 
7 
Electricity, Gas & Water 
1,148 
% 
70 
27 
571 
48 
12 
21 
10 
Construction 
7,202 
% 
48 
18 
3,623 
30 
8 
26 
14 
Wholesale & Retail 
17,287 
% 
66 
28 
8,731 
47 
10 
15 
6 
Hotels & Restaurants 
8,888 
% 
69 
35 
4,359 
59 
13 
21 
13 
Transport & Comms. 
6,890 
% 
60 
24 
3,427 
39 
10 
28 
21 
Financial Services 
2,330 
% 
70 
27 
1,169 
49 
11 
17 
11 
Business Services 
14,011 
% 
64 
25 
6,939 
41 
11 
25 
14 
Public Administration  
942 
% 
78 
30 
480 
49 
12 
18 
11 
Education 
5,796 
% 
84 
49 
2,907 
62 
10 
23 
16 
Health & Social Work 
8,460 
% 
81 
33 
4,221 
53 
21 
20 
22 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
7,358 
% 
67 
32 
3,653 
48 
11 
24 
18 
Base: Columns one and two all establishments; remainder all establishments in Module 2. 
 

 
153
Table A.5.4 Preparedness of education leavers recruited in past 2-3 years, by type of leaver and size in England, Northern Ireland and Wales 
England/Wales/NI 
  
All 
2 to 4 
5 to 24 
25 to 49 
50 to 99 
100 to 249 
250+ 
 Unwtd base 
  
10,060 
634 
5,416 
1,864 
1,080 
700 
366 
  
Very well prepared 
11 
15 
10 
8 
7 
7 
4 
16 year old school 
leavers 
Well prepared 
48 
41 
48 
53 
53 
55 
52 
Poorly Prepared 
29 
28 
29 
28 
30 
27 
30 
  
Very poorly prepared 
7 
12 
7 
5 
3 
2 
3 
  
  
14,471 
602 
7,477 
2,831 
1,796 
1,179 
586 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
15 
10 
9 
8 
7 
5 
17-18 year old 
school leavers 
Well prepared 
56 
48 
56 
60 
61 
60 
60 
Poorly Prepared 
24 
23 
25 
24 
24 
22 
23 
  
Very poorly prepared 
5 
11 
5 
4 
2 
1 
2 
  
  
15,435 
754 
7,981 
2,994 
1,876 
1,217 
613 
  
Very well prepared 
13 
16 
13 
13 
11 
11 
7 
17-18 FE College 
leavers 
Well prepared 
61 
52 
61 
65 
68 
65 
70 
Poorly Prepared 
18 
21 
18 
17 
14 
15 
12 
  
Very poorly prepared 
4 
8 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
  
  
17,770 
782 
8,588 
3,647 
2,368 
1,629 
756 
  
Very well prepared 
24 
22 
23 
27 
25 
24 
21 
University/HE 
leavers 
Well prepared 
60 
53 
60 
62 
63 
64 
66 
  
Poorly Prepared 
11 
16 
11 
7 
7 
6 
5 
  
Very poorly prepared 
2 
5 
2 
1 
* 
* 
- 
 Base: Establishments in England, Northern Ireland and Wales who had taken on each type of education leaver 
‘-‘ denotes zero; ‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
Figures in italics denote base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 

 
154
Table A.5.4(i) Preparedness of education leavers recruited in past 2-3 years, by type of leaver and size in Scotland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Base: Establishments in Scotland who had taken on each type of education leaver 
‘-‘ denotes zero; ‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
Figures in italics denote base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 
 
 
Scotland 
 
All 
2 to 4 
5 to 24 
25 to 49 
50 to 99 
100 to 249 
250+ 
  
  
1,514 
90 
724 
312 
214 
114 
60 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
12 
11 
5 
5 
7 
4 
Scottish 
Secondary School 
leavers 
Well prepared 
55 
53 
51 
61 
63 
62 
72 
Poorly Prepared 
25 
22 
28 
23 
22 
22 
16 
  
Very poorly prepared 
4 
8 
4 
3 
4 
1 
- 
  
  
1,095 
46 
426 
257 
183 
118 
65 
  
Very well prepared 
12 
20 
11 
10 
8 
8 
10 
Scottish FE 
College Leavers 
Well prepared 
66 
49 
65 
78 
76 
73 
74 
Poorly Prepared 
14 
19 
16 
10 
10 
9 
10 
  
Very poorly prepared 
3 
7 
3 
1 
- 
1 
- 
  
  
1,258 
37 
485 
299 
226 
143 
68 
  
Very well prepared 
23 
28 
22 
23 
21 
24 
17 
Scottish HE 
Leavers 
Well prepared 
62 
53 
62 
66 
69 
65 
78 
Poorly Prepared 
8 
10 
8 
7 
9 
5 
1 
  
Very poorly prepared 
* 
- 
1 
- 
- 
- 
- 

 
155 
Table A.5.5 Preparedness of education leavers recruited in past 2-3 years, by type of leaver 
2013 v 2011 
 
Base: Establishments who had taken on each type of education leaver  
‘*’ denotes a figure larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 
 
 
 
England/Wales/NI 
  
2011 
2013 
 Unwtd base 
  
10,962 
10,060 
16 year old school leavers 
Very well prepared 
11 
11 
 
Well prepared 
48 
48 
Poorly Prepared 
28 
29 
 
Very poorly prepared 
9 
7 
  
  
13,871 
14,471 
17-18 year old school leavers 
Very well prepared 
10 
10 
 
Well prepared 
56 
56 
Poorly Prepared 
24 
24 
 
Very poorly prepared 
6 
5 
  
  
13,008 
15,435 
17-18 FE College leavers 
Very well prepared 
13 
13 
 
Well prepared 
61 
61 
Poorly Prepared 
18 
18 
 
Very poorly prepared 
4 
4 
  
  
15,680 
17,770 
University/HE leavers 
Very well prepared 
24 
24 
Well prepared 
59 
60 
 
Poorly Prepared 
11 
11 
 
Very poorly prepared 
2 
2 
Scotland 
 
 
  
  
743 
1,514 
 Scottish Secondary School 
leavers 
Very well prepared 
10 
10 
 
Well prepared 
59 
55 
Poorly Prepared 
24 
25 
 
Very poorly prepared 
5 
4 
  
  
552 
1,095 
Scottish FE College Leavers 
Very well prepared 
16 
12 
 
Well prepared 
64 
66 
Poorly Prepared 
14 
14 
 
Very poorly prepared 
2 
3 
  
  
636 
1,258 
Scottish HE Leavers 
Very well prepared 
28 
23 
 
Well prepared 
58 
62 
Poorly Prepared 
8 
8 
 
Very poorly prepared 
1 
* 

 
156 
Table A.5.5 (i) Preparedness of education leavers recruited in past 2-3 years, by sector (i) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
England/Wales/NI 
  
All 
Agriculture 
Mining and 
Quarrying 
Manufacturing 
Electricity, 
Gas and Water 
Construction 
Wholesale & 
Retail 
Hotels and 
Restaurants 
 Unwtd base 
  
10,060 
160 
8 
754 
68 
706 
2,865 
1,925 
  
Very well prepared 
11 
24 
** 
10 
14 
10 
10 
9 
16 year old school 
leavers 
Well prepared 
48 
44 
** 
44 
42 
48 
53 
46 
Poorly Prepared 
29 
22 
** 
35 
31 
26 
26 
32 
  
Very poorly prepared 
7 
6 
** 
8 
10 
11 
5 
6 
  
  
14,471 
107 
12 
927 
109 
681 
3,869 
2,777 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
9 
** 
9 
11 
10 
10 
10 
17-18 year old 
school leavers 
Well prepared 
56 
47 
** 
50 
47 
53 
61 
55 
Poorly Prepared 
24 
32 
** 
30 
29 
23 
22 
24 
  
Very poorly prepared 
5 
9 
** 
6 
5 
9 
3 
5 
  
  
15,435 
153 
11 
989 
97 
683 
3,707 
2,762 
  
Very well prepared 
13 
20 
** 
14 
14 
15 
13 
12 
17-18 FE College 
leavers 
Well prepared 
61 
57 
** 
60 
48 
59 
65 
62 
Poorly Prepared 
18 
16 
** 
19 
26 
17 
15 
18 
  
Very poorly prepared 
4 
5 
** 
3 
8 
7 
3 
3 
  
  
17,770 
100 
15 
849 
116 
394 
3,092 
2,508 
  
Very well prepared 
24 
25 
** 
23 
22 
24 
25 
20 
University/HE leavers Well prepared 
60 
50 
** 
58 
62 
60 
61 
67 
  
Poorly Prepared 
11 
17 
** 
12 
10 
8 
10 
8 
  
Very poorly prepared 
2 
5 
** 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
Scotland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
1,514 
50 
4 
128 
19 
124 
348 
224 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
13 
** 
10 
** 
10 
7 
12 
Scottish Secondary 
School leavers 
Well prepared 
55 
54 
** 
55 
** 
55 
57 
50 
Poorly Prepared 
25 
30 
** 
26 
** 
25 
22 
30 
  
Very poorly prepared 
4 
- 
** 
4 
** 
7 
8 
3 
  
  
1,095 
29 
6 
77 
11 
37 
220 
185 
  
Very well prepared 
12 
27 
** 
6 
** 
14 
9 
8 
Scottish FE College 
Leavers 
Well prepared 
66 
51 
** 
73 
** 
59 
69 
71 
Poorly Prepared 
14 
12 
** 
15 
** 
26 
15 
12 
  
Very poorly prepared 
3 
9 
** 
1 
** 
- 
4 
4 
  
  
1,258 
16 
6 
71 
8 
34 
214 
183 
  
Very well prepared 
23 
** 
** 
24 
** 
28 
27 
21 
Scottish HE Leavers 
Well prepared 
62 
** 
** 
64 
** 
66 
62 
52 
Poorly Prepared 
8 
** 
** 
9 
** 
3 
3 
19 
  
Very poorly prepared 
* 
** 
** 
- 
** 
3 
- 
2 
 
 

 
157 
Table A.5.5 (ii) Preparedness of education leavers recruited in past 2-3 years, by sector (ii) 
 
England/ 
Wales/NI 
  
All 
Transport 
and Comms 
Financial 
Services 
Business 
Services 
Public Admin 
Education 
Health and 
Social Work 
Community, 
Social and 
Personal Ser. 
 Unwtd base 
  
10,060 
433 
65 
869 
38 
389 
571 
1,209 
  
Very well prepared 
11 
13 
6 
11 
5 
11 
10 
11 
16 year old 
school 
leavers 
Well prepared 
48 
45 
47 
46 
59 
49 
47 
44 
Poorly Prepared 
29 
27 
34 
30 
28 
28 
29 
31 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
7 
12 
10 
8 
- 
6 
8 
10 
  
  
14,471 
606 
189 
1,546 
105 
837 
1,378 
1,328 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
12 
10 
10 
10 
12 
10 
12 
17-18 year 
old school 
leavers 
Well prepared 
56 
50 
57 
54 
59 
60 
54 
55 
Poorly Prepared 
24 
25 
25 
24 
20 
19 
29 
25 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
5 
8 
5 
8 
2 
4 
3 
5 
  
  
15,435 
721 
204 
1,700 
126 
1,019 
1,852 
1,411 
  
Very well prepared 
13 
12 
8 
13 
11 
15 
14 
15 
17-18 FE 
College 
leavers 
Well prepared 
61 
52 
63 
57 
59 
64 
61 
57 
Poorly Prepared 
18 
25 
21 
22 
18 
14 
18 
19 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
4 
5 
3 
5 
1 
3 
2 
4 
  
  
17,770 
1,106 
395 
3,385 
184 
2,555 
1,765 
1,306 
  
Very well prepared 
24 
21 
19 
21 
23 
36 
23 
27 
University/
HE leavers 
Well prepared 
60 
54 
65 
58 
65 
55 
61 
57 
  
Poorly Prepared 
11 
14 
11 
15 
5 
5 
10 
10 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
2 
4 
1 
2 
* 
* 
2 
2 
Scotland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
1,514 
71 
23 
151 
14 
72 
148 
138 
  
Very well prepared 
10 
19 
** 
4 
** 
12 
6 
22 
Scottish 
Secondary 
School 
leavers 
Well prepared 
55 
42 
** 
58 
** 
61 
55 
47 
Poorly Prepared 
25 
30 
** 
29 
** 
15 
32 
20 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
4 
2 
** 
1 
** 
6 
2 
5 
  
  
1,095 
41 
11 
118 
16 
83 
162 
99 
  
Very well prepared 
12 
11 
** 
5 
** 
18 
21 
20 
Scottish FE 
College 
Leavers 
Well prepared 
66 
69 
** 
73 
** 
73 
66 
40 
Poorly Prepared 
14 
12 
** 
9 
** 
9 
8 
29 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
3 
- 
** 
1 
** 
- 
1 
10 
  
  
1,258 
62 
24 
229 
26 
141 
144 
100 
  
Very well prepared 
23 
28 
** 
22 
** 
40 
15 
20 
Scottish HE 
Leavers 
Well prepared 
62 
60 
** 
58 
** 
53 
75 
70 
Poorly Prepared 
8 
8 
** 
10 
** 
5 
5 
5 
  
Very poorly 
prepared 
* 
- 
** 
- 
** 
- 
1 
- 
Base: Establishments who had taken on each type of education leaver‘ -‘ denotes zero; ‘*’ denotes a figure 
larger than zero but smaller than 0.5 Figures in italics denote base size smaller than 50: figures should be 
treated with caution 

 
158 
Table A.5.7 Recruitment of education leavers in the past 2-3 years – by size and sector in 
England, Northern Ireland and Wales (2011 vs. 2013) 
Base: All establishments in England, Northern Ireland and Wales 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011 
2013 
Row percentages 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
16 year old 
school leaver 
17-18 year old 
school leaver 
17-18 year old 
FEC leaver 
University/HE 
graduate 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
16 year old 
school leaver 
17-18 year old 
school leaver 
17-18 year old 
FEC leaver
University HE 
leaver 
Eng/NI/Wal 
84,035 
9 
11 
10 
12 
85,265 
8 
10 
11 
14 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
17,608 
5 
5 
5 
5 
17,949 
3 
3 
4 
5 
5-24 
46,875 
12 
14 
13 
15 
48,387 
10 
14 
15 
17 
25-49 
9,837 
17 
25 
23 
29 
10,078 
18 
27 
29 
36 
50-99 
5,299 
20 
29 
27 
39 
5,102 
19 
32 
34 
46 
100-249 
2,947 
21 
35 
31 
50 
2,674 
24 
43 
44 
60 
250+ 
1,469 
33 
47 
44 
60 
1,075 
30 
51 
54 
69 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
836 
7 
6 
6 
3 
2,888 
5 
3 
5 
3 
Mining &Quarrying 
161 
8 
11 
3 
8 
117 
6 
8 
6 
8 
Manufacturing 
7,477 
9 
10 
9 
8 
7,013 
8 
10 
10 
9 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
1,324 
7 
9 
9 
10 
1,062 
6 
11 
9 
11 
Construction 
6,347 
11 
8 
8 
4 
6,706 
7 
6 
7 
4 
Wholesale & Retail 
14,846 
12 
14 
12 
10 
16,296 
11 
14 
14 
12 
Hotels & 
Restaurants 
8,202 
13 
18 
16 
14 
8,317 
14 
20 
20 
17 
Transport & Comms. 7,586 
6 
7 
7 
12 
6,444 
5 
7 
8 
13 
Financial Services 
1,762 
4 
10 
9 
18 
2,125 
3 
9 
9 
18 
Business Services 
13,954 
4 
7 
7 
15 
13,227 
4 
7 
8 
17 
Public admin  
1,448 
5 
10 
10 
18 
818 
5 
12 
14 
21 
Education 
5,258 
7 
12 
14 
38 
5,442 
6 
13 
16 
39 
Health & Social 
Work 
7,860 
5 
11 
13 
15 
7,892 
5 
12 
17 
17 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
6,974 
14 
12 
13 
11 
6,918 
13 
12 
14 
12 
 

 
159 
Table A.5.8  Recruitment of education leaver in past 2-3 years – by size and sector in 
Scotland (2011 vs. 2013) 
Base: All establishments in Scotland 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents). 
 
 
 
2011 
2013 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Scottish 
School 
Leaver 
Scottish FE 
Leaver 
Scottish HE 
Leaver 
 
 
Unwtd 
Base 
Scottish 
School 
Leaver 
Scottish FE 
Leaver 
Scottish HE 
Leaver 
Scotland 
2,487 
17 
10 
11 
6,014 
17 
11 
12 
Size 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
297 
9 
4 
3 
1,109 
8 
5 
5 
5-24 
895 
21 
12 
13 
3,178 
21 
12 
13 
25-49 
402 
35 
26 
29 
869 
35 
29 
34 
50-99 
413 
36 
30 
35 
482 
41 
35 
43 
100-249 
323 
41 
37 
53 
264 
40 
42 
51 
250+ 
157 
57 
56 
56 
112 
46 
55 
66 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
85 
15 
10 
2 
519 
10 
5 
2 
Mining &Quarrying 
24 
** 
** 
** 
21 
** 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
176 
21 
12 
11 
409 
22 
10 
9 
Electricity, Gas & 
Water 
82 
15 
7 
10 
86 
19 
10 
10 
Construction 
229 
22 
6 
4 
496 
19 
4 
5 
Wholesale & Retail 
317 
21 
11 
11 
991 
20 
12 
11 
Hotels & Restaurants 
219 
23 
17 
12 
571 
22 
17 
17 
Transport & Comms. 
224 
13 
4 
11 
446 
9 
6 
7 
Financial Services 
91 
20 
10 
16 
205 
10 
5 
13 
Business Services 
343 
10 
8 
12 
784 
11 
8 
17 
Public admin  
136 
8 
9 
16 
124 
9 
11 
18 
Education 
164 
12 
20 
24 
354 
14 
16 
25 
Health & Social Work 
207 
11 
12 
16 
568 
20 
18 
18 
Community, Social & 
Personal Services  
190 
20 
6 
6 
440 
20 
15 
11 

 
160 
Chapter 6: High Performance Working 
 
Table A.6.1  Summary of skills shortages by HPW classification and size 
 
Base: All establishments by HPW classification and size. 
‘HtFVs / vacs’ is shown as all hard-to-fill vacancies as a proportion of all private sector vacancies; ‘‘SSVs / vacs’ is shown as all skill-shortage vacancies as a proportion of all private sector 
vacancies; ‘SSVs / HtFVs’ is shown as all skill-shortage vacancies as a proportion of all hard-to-fill private sector vacancies. 
 
 
Have vacancies 
Have HtFVs 
Have SSVs 
HtFVs / vacs 
SSVs / vacs 
SSVs / HtFVs 
Row percentages 
Unwtd Base 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
HPW employers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
426 
15 
6 
5 
42 
36 
85 
5-24 
4,026 
23 
7 
6 
28 
24 
85 
25-49 
1,537 
37 
10 
8 
26 
19 
73 
50-99 
1,003 
48 
14 
11 
29 
24 
83 
100-249 
721 
61 
19 
16 
20 
15 
73 
250+ 
392 
61 
21 
19 
16 
14 
93 
Non-HPW Employers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,100 
8 
3 
2 
46 
32 
69 
5-24 
21,835 
15 
5 
4 
35 
27 
77 
25-49 
3,865 
30 
9 
7 
27 
19 
69 
50-99 
1,779 
39 
10 
8 
25 
18 
69 
100-249 
745 
57 
18 
15 
30 
25 
85 
250+ 
206 
70 
18 
16 
15 
14 
97 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
161 
 
Table A.6.2  Incidence, number and density of skills gaps among HPW employers and non-
HPW employers, by size band 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
% of 
establishments 
with any skills 
gaps 
Number of 
staff not fully 
proficient 
(skills gaps) 
% of staff 
reported as 
having skills gaps 
HPW employers 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
426 
6 
3,500 
2.6 
5-24 
4,026 
22 
53,800 
4.8 
25-49 
1,537 
33 
50,600 
5.3 
50-99 
1,003 
37 
71,700 
5.9 
100-249 
721 
44 
103,900 
5.1 
250+ 
392 
48 
270,900 
5.4 
Non-HPW employers 
 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,100 
7 
64,100 
2.8 
5-24 
21,835 
21 
261,500 
4.9 
25-49 
3,865 
32 
115,400 
5.0 
50-99 
1,779 
35 
108,100 
4.9 
100-249 
745 
41 
106,100 
5.3 
250+ 
206 
51 
180,300 
7.8 
Base: Column one all establishments in Module 1 by HPW classification and size; remainder all employment 
in Module 1 by HPW classification and size. 
Note: The number of employees not fully proficient has been rounded to the nearest 100. 
 
 

 
162 
Table A.6.3  Training activity among HPW employers and non-HPW employers by size band 
and sector 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any training 
Proportion of staff 
trained 
 
 
% 
% 
Size 
 
 
 
HPW employers 
 
 
 
2-4 
426 
95 
88 
5-24 
4,026 
98 
77 
25-49 
1,537 
98 
73 
50-99 
1,003 
99 
75 
100-249 
721 
99 
74 
250+ 
392 
99 
74 
Non-HPW employers 
 
 
 
2-4 
9,100 
50 
40 
5-24 
21,835 
75 
51 
25-49 
3,865 
91 
60 
50-99 
1,779 
93 
63 
100-249 
745 
97 
65 
250+ 
206 
93 
63 
Sector  
 
 
 
HPW employers 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
31 
100 
76 
Mining and Quarrying 
13 
** 
** 
Manufacturing 
428 
99 
67 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
97 
99 
64 
Construction 
239 
97 
70 
Wholesale and Retail 
1,797 
97 
73 
Hotels and Restaurants 
929 
95 
78 
Transport and Communications 
380 
93 
61 
Financial Services 
265 
96 
81 
Business Services 
1,242 
98 
76 
Public Administration 
182 
98 
68 
Education 
872 
100 
80 
Health and Social Work 
1,008 
99 
83 
Community, Social & Personal 
Service Activities 
622 
98 
77 
 
 
 
 
Non-HPW employers 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
1,651 
49 
42 
Mining and Quarrying 
49 
53 
41 
Manufacturing 
3,231 
58 
42 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
480 
70 
64 
Construction 
3,340 
54 
45 
Wholesale and Retail 
6,759 
57 
46 
Hotels and Restaurants 
3,600 
58 
54 
Transport and Communications 
3,083 
62 
49 
Financial Services 
896 
74 
65 
Business Services 
5,830 
63 
51 
Public Administration 
280 
86 
72 
Education 
2,017 
91 
73 
Health and Social Work 
3,231 
88 
78 
Community, Social & Personal 
Service Activities 
3,083 
64 
59 
Base: All establishments in Module 1 by HPW classification. 

 
163 
Table A.6.4  Profile of private sector employers in each Product Market Strategy 
classification by country and sector 
 
Very Low  
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very High 
Base 
2,818 
9,507 
19,333 
23,106 
12,729 
 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Country 
 
 
 
 
 
England 
80 
82 
84 
86 
86 
Northern Ireland 
4 
4 
3 
3 
2 
Scotland 
9 
8 
8 
7 
7 
Wales 
7 
5 
5 
4 
4 
Sector 
 
 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
16 
10 
6 
3 
2 
Mining and Quarrying 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
Manufacturing 
5 
6 
7 
7 
8 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
Construction 
15 
14 
12 
9 
7 
Wholesale and Retail 
22 
22 
23 
23 
22 
Hotels and Restaurants 
11 
11 
10 
9 
10 
Transport and 
Communications 
9 
8 
7 
8 
8 
Financial Services 
2 
2 
3 
3 
3 
Business Services 
14 
18 
22 
25 
24 
Public Administration 
- 
- 
- 
1 
1 
Education 
1 
- 
1 
1 
2 
Health and Social Work 
1 
2 
3 
5 
5 
Community, Social & 
Personal Service Activities 
3 
5 
5 
6 
7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Base: All private sector establishments in each PMS classification by country and sector. 
‘-‘ denotes a figure of zero. 
 
 
 

 
164 
Table A.6.5 Profile of hard-to-fill vacancies at 1- digit SOC level by Product Market Strategy 
 
% of hard-to-fill vacancies 
 
Very low  
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very high 
Base 
204 
966 
2,657 
3,924 
2,885 
Column % 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Occupation 
Managers 
4 
4 
4 
3 
3 
Professionals 
9 
10 
11 
18 
17 
Associate professionals 
4 
12 
14 
17 
23 
Administrative / clerical staff 
4 
4 
7 
8 
4 
Skilled trades occupations 
29 
23 
14 
14 
12 
Caring, leisure and other 
services staff 
14 
11 
21 
17 
18 
Sales and customer service 
staff 
17 
10 
9 
7 
7 
Machine operatives 
11 
9 
8 
5 
5 
Elementary staff 
9 
18 
12 
10 
7 
Base: All private sector hard-to-fill vacancies; up to six occupations followed up 
Table A.6.6  Profile of skill-shortage fill vacancies at 1-digit SOC level by Product Market 
Strategy 
 
% of skill-shortage vacancies 
 
Very low  
Low 
Medium 
High 
Very high 
Base 
137 
742 
2,086 
3,056 
2,244 
Column % 
% 
% 
% 
% 
% 
Occupation 
Managers 
1 
4 
4 
3 
3 
Professionals 
11 
12 
10 
20 
20 
Associate professionals 
4 
14 
15 
19 
24 
Administrative / clerical staff 
5 
3 
7 
9 
3 
Skilled trades occupations 
37 
25 
16 
15 
13 
Caring, leisure and other 
services staff 
15 
10 
20 
15 
17 
Sales and customer service 
staff 
11 
9 
10 
7 
5 
Machine operatives 
9 
9 
5 
5 
6 
Elementary staff 
7 
13 
11 
7 
6 
Base: All private sector skill-shortage vacancies; up to six occupations followed up 
 
 

 
165 
Table A.6.7  Incidence and density of skills gaps by Product Market Strategy and size 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
% of establishments with 
a skills gap 
% of workforce with skills 
gaps 
Very low PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,100 
6 
3 
5-24 
1,451 
21 
5 
25-49 
170 
48 
9 
50-99 
68 
42 
7 
100-249 
21 
** 
** 
250+ 
8 
** 
** 
Low PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
2,889 
7 
3 
5-24 
5,407 
24 
6 
25-49 
754 
38 
6 
50-99 
289 
49 
9 
100-249 
120 
57 
8 
250+ 
48 
55 
10 
Medium PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
4,603 
7 
3 
5-24 
11,370 
24 
6 
25-49 
1,989 
41 
7 
50-99 
835 
45 
7 
100-249 
381 
51 
7 
250+ 
155 
62 
9 
High PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
4,400 
8 
3 
5-24 
13,627 
23 
5 
25-49 
2,688 
35 
6 
50-99 
1,415 
41 
6 
100-249 
719 
50 
6 
250+ 
257 
51 
8 
Very high PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
2,088 
8 
3 
5-24 
7,469 
20 
4 
25-49 
1,674 
31 
4 
50-99 
856 
35 
5 
100-249 
459 
42 
6 
250+ 
183 
52 
8 
Base: All private sector establishments in each PMS classification by country and size 
‘**’ denotes figures not shown due to low base (<25 responses) 
 
 

 
166 
Table A.6.8  Training provision over the last 12 months by Product Market Strategy and size 
Row percentages 
Unwtd 
Base 
Any training 
Proportion of staff trained 
 
 
% 
% 
Very low PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
1,100 
39 
29 
5-24 
1,451 
63 
39 
25-49 
170 
82 
51 
50-99 
68 
80 
43 
100-249 
21 
** 
** 
250+ 
8 
** 
** 
Low PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
2,889 
44 
32 
5-24 
5,407 
70 
44 
25-49 
754 
90 
52 
50-99 
289 
95 
59 
100-249 
120 
93 
60 
250+ 
48 
97 
68 
Medium PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
4,603 
50 
37 
5-24 
11,370 
76 
50 
25-49 
1989 
90 
56 
50-99 
835 
95 
62 
100-249 
381 
97 
64 
250+ 
155 
96 
62 
High PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
4,400 
55 
44 
5-24 
13,627 
79 
54 
25-49 
2,688 
93 
60 
50-99 
1,415 
94 
63 
100-249 
719 
98 
66 
250+ 
257 
98 
69 
Very high PMS 
 
 
 
2-4 
2,088 
56 
46 
5-24 
7,469 
80 
58 
25-49 
1,674 
93 
61 
50-99 
856 
95 
63 
100-249 
459 
99 
68 
250+ 
183 
99 
72 
Base: All private sector establishments in each PMS classification by size. 
 ‘Proportion of staff trained’ is shown as a proportion of all private sector employment 
‘**’ denotes figure not shown because of a low base (fewer than 25 respondents); Figures in italics denote 
base size smaller than 50: figures should be treated with caution 
 
 

 
167 
Annex B: National Time Series Tables 
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011 and 2013 was designed in such a 
way as to preserve key time series measures from the previous surveys carried out 
previously by the individual nations where possible. 
The eligible employer population and weighting strategy 2013 survey was different to that 
used in 2011 (see the accompanying Technical Report for details); therefore the 2011 
data has been reweighted to give comparable time series data.  
For the constituent nations of the UK, the degree to which we can track time series prior 
to 2011 depends on the approach the nation took to their predecessor skills survey.   
England: England carried out the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) biennially 
from 2005, and annually from 2001 prior to this. The population used in NESS matches 
that used in UKCESS 2013 (2+ employment), therefore we can make some comparisons 
over a longer time period.  It should be noted that the weighting strategy of the NESS 
surveys was based on SSC sectors rather than the 14 broad SIC sectors used in 2011 
and 2013, therefore some caution needs to be exercised when making comparisons with 
data prior to 2011. 
Northern Ireland: The Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey (NISMS) was conducted 
in 2005 and 2008 on a 1+employee population. This does not match the population used 
in UKCESS 2013, therefore no time series comparisons can be drawn prior to 2011. 
Scotland: The Scottish Employer Skills Survey (SESS) ran annually from 2006 to 2010. 
The surveys were conducted using a 1+employee population which does not match the 
population used in UKCESS 2013, therefore no time series comparisons can be drawn 
prior to 2011. 
Wales: Future Skills Wales (FSW) was conducted in 2005 on a 2+ employment 
population.  This gives some scope to make comparisons with this point in time, however 
it should be noted that the weighting strategy employed in 2005 used different sector and 
sizeband definitions to those used in 2011 and 2013, therefore some caution needs to be 
exercised when making comparisons with the 2005 data. 
 
 
 

 
168 
England Time Series: Key Figures 
 
 
NESS 03 
NESS 05 
NESS 07 
NESS 09 
UKCESS 2011 
UKCESS 2013 
Vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies 
 
  
  
  
  
  
% of establishments with any vacancies 
17% 
17% 
18% 
12% 
14% 
15% 
% of establishments with any hard-to-fill 
vacancies 
8% 
7% 
7% 
3% 
5% 
5% 
% with SSVs 
n/a 
5% 
5% 
3% 
3% 
4% 
% of all vacancies which are SSVs 
n/a 
25% 
21% 
16% 
15% 
22% 
Number of vacancies 
679,000 573,900 619,700 385,700 501,200 559,600 
Number of hard-to-fill vacancies 
271,000 203,600 183,500 
85,400 
107,100 160,000 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
135,000 143,100 130,000 
63,100 
76,900 
124,800 
Skills gaps 
 
 
 
 
 
 
% of establishments with any staff not 
fully proficient 
22% 
16% 
15% 
19% 
17% 
15% 
Number of skills gaps 
2.4m 
1.26m 
1.36m 
1.70m 
1.28m 
1.17m 
Number of staff not fully proficient as a % 
of employment 
11% 
6% 
6% 
7% 
6% 
5% 
Training 
 
 
 
 
 
 
% of establishments training staff over the 
last 12 months 
59% 
65% 
67% 
68% 
65% 
66% 
% of establishments providing off-the-job 
training in the last 12 months 
n/a 
46% 
46% 
51% 
47% 
48% 
% of workforce trained 
53% 
61% 
63% 
56% 
54% 
62% 
Total number of training days  
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
109m 
97m 
95m 
Total training expenditure 
** 
** 
** 
** 
£38.6bn £36.0bn 
 
**Eurostat data used for calculating total training spend was subject to an adjustment in 2013, therefore no 
data is available prior to 2011 that is directly comparable with 2011 and 2013 data.  
 
 

 
169 
 
Northern Ireland Time Series: Key Figures  
 
UKCESS 2011 
UKCESS 2013 
Vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies 
  
 
% of establishments with any vacancies 
10% 
10% 
% of establishments with any hard-to-fill vacancies 
3% 
3% 
% with SSVs 
2% 
3% 
% of all vacancies which are SSVs 
21% 
19% 
Number of vacancies 
18,400 
15,200 
Number of hard-to-fill vacancies 
5,000 
4,000 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
3,900 
2,900 
Skills gaps 
 
 
% of establishments with any staff not fully proficient 
13% 
14% 
Number of skills gaps 
34,100 
37,700 
Number of staff not fully proficient as a % of employment 
4% 
5% 
Training 
 
 
% of establishments training staff over the last 12 months 
65% 
63% 
% of establishments providing off-the-job training in the last 12 
months 
48% 
49% 
% of workforce trained 
56% 
59% 
Total number of training days 
2.71m 
2.69m 
Total training expenditure 
£1.2bn 
£1.1bn 
 
 
 
 

 
170 
 
 
Scotland Legacy Time Series: Key Figures 
 
UKCESS 2011 
UKCESS 2013 
Vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies 
  
  
% of establishments with any vacancies 
14% 
15% 
% of establishments with any hard-to-fill vacancies 
4% 
6% 
% with SSVs 
3% 
4% 
% of all vacancies which are SSVs 
15% 
25% 
Number of vacancies 
44,500 
54,500 
Number of hard-to-fill vacancies 
9,100 
18,200 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
6,700 
13,400 
Skills gaps 
 
 
% of establishments with any staff not fully proficient 
21% 
19% 
Number of skills gaps 
121,000 
135,100 
Number of staff not fully proficient as a % of employment 
5% 
6% 
Training 
 
 
% of establishments training staff over the last 12 months 
73% 
70% 
% of establishments providing off-the-job training in the last 
12 months 
53% 
53% 
% of workforce trained 
58% 
65% 
Total number of training days 
9.8m 
10.0m 
Total training expenditure 
£4bn 
£4.2bn 
 
 
 

 
171 
 
Wales Legacy Time Series: Key Figures 
 
FSW 05 
UKCESS 2011 
UKCESS 2013 
Vacancies and skill-shortage vacancies 
  
  
  
% of establishments with any vacancies 
21% 
12% 
14% 
% of establishments with any hard-to-fill vacancies 
10% 
4% 
5% 
% with SSVs 
4% 
3% 
4% 
% of all vacancies which are SSVs 
14% 
18% 
20% 
Number of vacancies 
37,900 
22,500 
25,700 
Number of hard-to-fill vacancies 
13,200 
6,600 
7,200 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
5,400 
4,000 
5,100 
Skills gaps 
 
 
 
% of establishments with any staff not fully proficient 
18% 
16% 
16% 
Number of skills gaps 
63,800 
53,900 
67,400 
Number of staff not fully proficient as a % of employment 
6% 
5% 
6% 
Training 
 
 
 
% of establishments training staff over the last 12 months 
n/a 
63% 
62% 
% of establishments providing off-the-job training in the last 12 
months 
n/a 
47% 
47% 
% of workforce trained 
n/a 
56% 
62% 
Total number of training days 
n/a 
4.93m 
5.56m 
Total training expenditure 
n/a 
£1.5bn 
£1.6bn 
n/a: question not asked or not asked in a comparable manner in previous years’ surveys 
 
 
 

 
172 
Annex C: Industry Coding 
Each establishment was allocated to one of 14 sectors, based on their Standard 
Industrial Classification (SIC). SIC 2007 was used to classify establishments using the 
following method. Using the four-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) supplied for 
each record from the Experian database, a description of business activity was read out 
to each respondent. If they agreed that this description matched the main activity 
undertaken at the establishment, then the SIC on Experian’s database was assumed to 
be correct. If however the respondent felt the description did not correspond to their main 
business activity at the site (which about a quarter did), a verbatim response was 
collected to find out what they do (see question A7 on the survey; questionnaire shown in 
the accompanying Technical Report). At the analysis stage this was coded to a four-digit 
SIC which was then used as the basis for allocation into sector. 
The table below shows the 14 sectors and their corresponding SIC 2007 definitions. 
Sector 
SIC 2007 
1. Agriculture 
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03) 
Including farming, hunting and other related service 
activities, 
forestry 
and 
logging, 
fishing 
and 
aquaculture 
2. Mining & Quarrying 
B - Mining and quarrying (05-09) 
Including mining of coal, metals, sand/stone/clay, 
and extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas  
3. Manufacturing 
C - Manufacturing (10-33) 
Including manufacture of food and beverage, 
textiles, chemicals and chemical products, basic 
pharmaceutical products, other mineral products, 
manufacture of metals and metal products, 
machinery, computer and electronic products and 
equipment, motor vehicles and other transport 
equipment, furniture, and repair and installation of 
machinery and equipment 
4. Electricity, Gas and Water  
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning 
supply (35) 
  
E - Water supply, sewerage, waste management 
and remediation activities (36-39)  
Including electric power generation, transmission 
and 
distribution, 
manufacture 
of 
gas 
and 
distribution of gaseous fuels, steam and air 
conditioning supply, water collection, treatment and 
supply, sewerage and waste collection, treatment 
and disposal activities and materials recovery 

 
173 
Sector 
SIC 2007 
5. Construction 
F - Construction (41-43) 
Including the construction of buildings, civil 
engineering (constructing roads, railways and other 
utility 
projects), 
demolition, 
and 
specialised 
activities such as electrical installation, roofing and 
scaffold erection 
6. Wholesale and Retail 
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor 
vehicles and motor cycles (45-47) 
Including sale, maintenance and repair of motor 
vehicles, 
parts 
and 
accessories, 
non-vehicle 
wholesale 
(for 
example 
agriculture, 
food, 
household goods), and the retail trade of all 
products whether in stores, stalls, markets, mail 
order or online 
7. Hotels and Restaurants 
I - Accommodation and food service activities (55-
56) 
Including hotels, campsites, youth hostels, holiday 
centres, 
villages 
and 
other 
short 
stay 
accommodation, restaurants and takeaways, event 
catering and licensed clubs, pubs and bars 
8. Transport and Communications 
H - Transport and storage (49-53) 
  
J - Information and communication (58-63) 
Including land, water and air transport (passenger 
and freight), warehousing and support activities for 
transportation, 
postal 
and 
courier 
activities, 
publishing (books, journals, newspapers etc and 
software/computer games), television, film and 
music 
production, 
broadcasting, 
telecommunications, computer programming and 
consultancy, information service activities (e.g. data 
processing and hosting) 
9. Financial Services 
K - Financial and insurance activities (64-66) 
Including banks and building societies, activities of 
holding companies, trusts, funds and similar 
financial 
entities, 
credit 
granting, 
pensions, 
insurance and reinsurance 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
174 
Sector 
SIC 2007 
10. Business services 
L - Real estate activities (68) 
M - Professional, scientific and technical activities 
(69-75) 
N - Administrative and support service activities 
(77-82) 
Including the buying, selling and renting of real 
estate, legal activities, accounting, bookkeeping 
and 
auditing, 
management 
consultancy, 
architectural and engineering activities, scientific 
research and development, advertising and market 
research, specialist design, photographic activities, 
translation and interpretation, veterinary activities, 
renting and leasing of tangible goods (motors, 
household, machinery), employment agencies, 
travel agencies and tour operations, security and 
investigation activities, office administration and 
business support 
11. Public Administration 
O - Public administration and defence; compulsory 
social security (84) 
Including administration of the State and economic 
and social policy of the community, provision of 
services to the community as a whole such as 
defence activities, foreign affairs, justice and 
judicial activities, fire service and compulsory social 
security activities 
12. Education 
P - Education (85) 
Including pre-primary, primary, secondary and 
higher education, other education (such as sports, 
driving schools, cultural education), educational 
support activities 
13. Health and Social work 
Q - Human health and social work activities (86-88) 
Including Hospitals, medical and dental practices, 
residential care, social work activities 
14. Other Community, Social and 
Personal Services 
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation (90-93) 
S - Other service activities (94-96) 
Including performing arts, libraries and museums, 
gambling and betting, sports facilities, amusement 
and recreation activities, activities of membership 
organisations (religious, political, trade union, 
professional), 
personal 
services 
(hairdressing, 
beauty, 
textile 
cleaning, 
well-being 
activities, 
funeral activities)  

 
175 
Sector 
SIC 2007 
NOT COVERED IN SURVEY 
T - Activities of households as employers; 
undifferentiated goods and services producing 
activities of households for own use (97-98) 
U - Activities of extraterritorial organisations and 
bodies (99) 
Including households as employers of domestic 
personnel, private households producing goods for 
own use 
 
 

 
176 
Annex D: Occupational Coding 
The occupational data collected in the survey were collected both pre-coded and 
verbatim. The former included the occupational breakdown of employment (question D5 
to D8) where respondents were asked how many of their workforce fell into each of the 
nine major (one-digit) Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) 2010 categories 
(Managers, Directors and Senior Officials through to Elementary Occupations). However, 
on vacancy measures (for example the occupations in which vacancies exist – question 
C2) this information was collected verbatim. This was then coded at the analysis stage, 
where possible to a four-digit level SOC, if not three, two- or one-digit level. 
Examples of what might fall into each occupational band are as follows: 
Occupational 
group 
Primary sectors 
(Agriculture, 
manufacturing, 
construction etc) 
Service sectors (retail, 
business, finance, 
transport etc) 
Public sector (Public 
Admin, Health, 
Education etc) 
Managers, 
Directors and 
Senior Officials 
Site managers, 
Department Heads, Shift 
Managers (not 
supervisors) 
Directors, Managers / 
Branch/site managers, 
shift managers (not 
supervisors 
Police inspectors and 
above, department heads, 
Head teachers, Senior 
Officials 
Professionals 
Professional engineers, 
software and IT 
professionals, 
accountants, chemists, 
scientific researchers 
Solicitors, lawyers, 
accountants, IT 
professionals, economists, 
architects, actuaries 
Doctors, nurses, midwives, 
teachers, social workers, 
librarians  
Associate 
Professionals 
Science and engineering 
technicians, lab 
technicians, IT 
technicians, accounting 
technicians 
Insurance underwriters, 
finance/investment 
analysts and advisers, 
writers/journalists, buyers, 
estate agents 
Junior police/fire/prison 
officers, therapists, 
paramedics, community 
workers, H&S officers, 
housing officers 
Administrative 
staff 
Secretaries, receptionists, 
PAs, telephonists, 
bookkeepers 
Secretaries, receptionists, 
PAs, communication 
operators, market research 
interviewers, clerks 
Secretaries, receptionists, 
PAs, local government 
officers and assistants, 
office assistants, library 
and database assistants 
Skilled Trades 
Farmers, electricians, 
machine setters / tool 
makers, carpenters, 
plasterers 
Motor mechanics, printers, 
TV engineers, butchers 
Chefs 
Caring, Leisure 
and Other Service 
Occupations 
Care assistants, nursery 
nurses 
Travel agents, travel 
assistants, hairdressers, 
housekeepers 
Care assistants, home 
carers, nursery nurses, 
ambulance staff, pest 
control, dental nurses, 
caretakers 
Sales and 
customer service 
occupations 
Customer facing roles: 
sales staff and call centre 
agents 
Sales assistants and retail 
cashiers, telesales, call 
centre agents 
Customer care operations 
Process, plant 
and machine 
operatives  
Routine operatives, 
drivers, machine 
operators, sorters and 
assemblers 
HGV, van, fork-lift, bus and 
taxi drivers 
Drivers, vehicle inspectors  
Elementary 
occupations 
Labourers, packers, goods 
handling and storage staff 
Bar staff, shelf fillers, 
catering assistants, 
waiters/waitresses, 
cleaners 
Labourers, cleaners, road 
sweepers, traffic wardens, 
security guards 
 
 
 

 
177 
Annex E: Sampling Error and Statistical 
Confidence 
Sampling errors for the survey results overall and for key sub-groups are presented in the 
table below. Figures have been based on a survey result of 50 per cent (the ‘worst’ case 
in terms of statistical reliability), and have used a 95 per cent confidence level. Where the 
table indicates that a survey result based on all respondents has a sampling error of +/- 
0.32 per cent, this should be interpreted as follows: ‘for a question asked of all 
respondents where the survey result is 50 per cent, we are 95 per cent confident that the 
true figure lies within the range 49.68 per cent to 50.32 per cent’.  
As a note, the calculation of sampling error has taken into account the finite population 
correction factor to account for cases where we are measuring a significant portion of the 
population universe (i.e. even if two sample sizes are the same, the sampling error will be 
lower if in one case a far higher proportion of the population was covered). 
These confidence intervals are based on the assumption of a normal distribution of 
responses. 
Sampling error (at the confidence 95 per cent level) associated with findings of 50 
per cent 
 
Population 
Number of 
interviews 
(Maximum) 
Sampling 
Error 
Overall  
1,743,847 
91,279 
+/-0.32 
By country 
 
 
 
England  
1,465,963 
75,255 
+/-0.36 
Northern Ireland  
55,603 
4,014 
+/-1.55 
Scotland  
140,948 
6,014 
+/-1.26 
Wales  
81,333 
5,996 
+/-1.27 
By size of establishment 
 
 
 
2-4  
907,729 
19,058 
+/-0.71 
5-24 
651,910 
51,565 
+/-0.43 
25-99  
146,623 
16,531 
+/-0.76 
100-249 
26,105 
2,938 
+/-1.81 
250+  
11,480 
1,187 
+/-2.84 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
178 
 
Population 
Number of 
interviews 
(Maximum) 
Sampling 
Error 
By sector 
 
 
 
Agriculture 
94,386 
3,407 
+/-1.68 
Mining & Quarrying 
1,712 
138 
+/-8.34 
Manufacturing 
99,955 
7,422 
+/-1.14 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
9,339 
1,148 
+/-2.89 
Construction 
162,801 
7,202 
+/-1.15 
Wholesale and Retail 
372,433 
17,287 
+/-0.75 
Hotels & Restaurants 
155,283 
8,888 
+/-1.04 
Transport and 
Communications 
121,484 
6,890 
+/-1.18 
Financial Services 
40,030 
2,330 
+/-2.03 
Business Services 
348,735 
14,011 
+/-0.83 
Public Administration 
21,408 
942 
+/-3.19 
Education 
57,523 
5,796 
+/-1.29 
Health and Social Work 
130,010 
8,460 
+/-1.07 
Community, Social and 
Personal Services  
128,748 
7,358 
+/-1.14 
 
 
 
 

 
179 
Annex F:  Weighted Base Sizes  
Number of employers… 
UK 
England 
NI 
Scotland 
Wales 
Overall  
1,743,847 1,465,963 
55,603 
140,948 
81,333 
Chapter 2: Employers’ experience of skill shortages 
With a vacancy 
257,161 
218,432 
5,749 
21,733 
11,247 
With a hard-to-fill vacancy 
89,732 
75,908 
1,917 
7,946 
3,961 
With a skill-shortage vacancy 
70,504 
60,073 
1,453 
5,947 
3,032 
Chapter 3: The Internal Skills Challenge 
With at least one skills gap 
268,208 
220,359 
7,954 
26,966 
12,929 
With at least one employee with 
more qualifications and skills 
than job role requires 
829,376 
687,975 
28,145 
73,039 
40,217 
Chapter 4: Employer Investment in Training and Skills 
Providing any training 
1,147,751 963,751 
35,005 
98,426 
50,569 
On-the-job training only 
296,972 
253,325 
7,507 
24,030 
12,110 
Off-the-job training only 
240,648 
202,275 
8742 
18,250 
11,380 
Both on- and off-the-job 
training 
610,132 
508,151 
18,755 
56,146 
27,080 
Providing no training for staff 
596,096 
502,212 
20,598 
42,522 
30,764 
Providing training towards 
nationally recognised 
qualifications 
538,226 
449,450 
15,588 
46,332 
26,856 
Chapter 5: Work-readiness of those leaving education 
Taking on leavers from 
education in the last 2-3 years 
435,444 
400,847 
12,309 
37,185 
22,288 
16-year-olds from school 
122,710 
113,086 
3,290 
n/a 
6,334 
17-18-year-olds from 
school 
168,069 
154,100 
4,874 
n/a 
9,095 
17-18-year-olds from FE 
College 
183,516 
169,650 
4,704 
n/a 
9,162 
From university 
216,893 
199,126 
6,943 
n/a 
10,824 
From Scottish secondary 
school 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
23,308 
n/a 
From Scottish FE College 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
15,284 
n/a 
From Scottish university 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
17,283 
n/a 
Base: All establishments 
 
 

 
180 
Annex G:  Unweighted Base Sizes  
 
 
Establishments with…  
 
 
Overall 
Vacancies Hard-to-fill 
vacancies 
Skill-
shortage 
vacancies 
Skills 
gaps 
Estab’s that 
train 
UK 
91,279 
18,959 
6,133 
4,987 
20,228 
69,842 
Country 
 
England 
75,255 
15,894 
5,073 
4,057 
16,563 
57,787 
Northern Ireland 
4,014 
550 
181 
144 
733 
2,894 
Scotland  
6,014 
1,499 
538 
427 
1,713 
4,884 
Wales 
5,996 
1,016 
341 
269 
1,219 
4,277 
Size 
  
2-4 
19,058 
1,403 
536 
405 
1,348 
9,580 
5-24 
51,565 
8,969 
3,033 
2,439 
11,409 
40,801 
25-99 
16,531 
6,088 
1,812 
1,419 
5,625 
15,438 
100-249 
2,938 
1,737 
528 
434 
1,274 
2,864 
250+ 
1,187 
762 
224 
200 
572 
1,159 
Sector 
 
Agriculture 
3,407 
167 
74 
52 
303 
1,710 
Mining and Quarrying 
138 
22 
5 
5 
21 
103 
Manufacturing 
7,422 
1347 
530 
471 
1,750 
5,128 
Electricity, Gas and Water 
1,148 
185 
65 
54 
208 
878 
Construction 
7,202 
706 
249 
198 
1,122 
4,777 
Wholesale and Retail 
17,287 
2,983 
802 
641 
4,392 
12,425 
Hotels and Restaurants 
8,888 
2,447 
841 
643 
2,964 
6,761 
Transport and Communications 
6,890 
1,232 
499 
424 
1,271 
4,939 
Financial Services 
2,330 
398 
121 
103 
437 
1,824 
Business Services 
14,011 
3,147 
1158 
990 
2,842 
11,127 
Public Administration  
942 
283 
83 
58 
203 
861 
Education 
5,796 
2,062 
480 
374 
1,296 
5,568 
Health and Social Work 
8,460 
2,375 
736 
536 
1,955 
7,935 
Community, Social and 
Personal Service activities 
7,358 
1,605 
490 
348 
1,464 
5,806 
Occupation 
 
Managers 
87,946 
18,597 
6,004 
4,802 
19,802 
67,964 
Professionals 
17,407 
5,796 
1,814 
1,513 
4,430 
15,816 
Associate Professionals 
12,577 
4,041 
1,349 
1,176 
3,568 
11,070 
Administrative/ Clerical staff 
53,759 
12,944 
4,158 
3,388 
12,831 
43,952 
Skilled Trades occupations 
23,644 
5,460 
2,084 
1,718 
6,601 
18,732 
Caring, Leisure and Other 
services 
14,017 
4,588 
1,403 
1,024 
3,504 
13,194 
Sales and Customer services 
27,417 
6,808 
2,094 
1,750 
8,015 
21,833 
Machine Operatives 
14,059 
2,962 
1,025 
845 
3,693 
11,018 
Elementary staff 
32,192 
8,474 
2,678 
2,082 
9,410 
26,420 
 
 

 
181 
Annex H: A Note on Proficiency and Skills Gaps 
To ascertain the number of staff with skills gaps, respondents were asked, for each major 
(one-digit SOC 2010) occupation where they employed staff, how many of those they 
employed were fully proficient. If respondents asked for clarification, then a proficient 
employee was described as ‘someone who is able to do their job to the required level’. 
‘Proficient employee’, however, is clearly a subjective and relative term to the extent that: 
 
different managers in an organisation may have different views on whether an 
individual member of staff is able to do the job to the required level. Indeed they may 
have different views on what the required level is that the organisation is looking for 
within an occupational category 
 
an employee could be regarded as fully proficient but if the requirements of the job 
change (for example, some new machinery or technology is introduced) then they 
could be regarded as not being able to do their job to the required level, despite the 
fact that their skills were unchanged 
 
the same is true if a person were to be promoted to a more demanding position – the 
company might go from having no skills gaps to saying that this newly promoted 
member of staff was not fully proficient in the new job, despite having the same 
proficiency as before 
 
different companies may be more demanding and ‘critical’ of their staff than others: 
an individual considered fully proficient by one company might be seen as having a 
skills gap if performing the same role to the same standard in another company. 
A final point to note is that the survey categorises all staff as either fully proficient or not: it 
takes no account of the range that can clearly exist between those who are very nearly 
proficient and those who significantly lack the skills that employers require. While from a 
policy perspective, therefore, there is clearly interest in raising the skill levels of the 
workforce, survey data can only identify changes year on year in the proportion of staff 
reported as fully proficient, not cases where skills levels have been raised but where staff 
still remain below full proficiency. 
 
 

 
182 
Annex I: Technical Annex 
A full Technical Report accompanies this document and can be downloaded from the 
UKCES website or obtained by contacting UKCES directly. This annex provides brief 
details on the key areas of sampling, fieldwork and analysis.  
The survey comprised two facets:  
 Wave 1: the main skills survey, covering business strategy, retention, recruitment, 
skills gaps and high performance working; 
 Wave 2: covering the financial investment establishments make in training their 
staff. 
Employer Skills Survey: Wave 1 
Sampling 
The most appropriate survey population for UKCESS for 2013 and beyond was re-
evaluated as the survey transitioned from a set of discrete country-based surveys into a 
common UK-wide survey. As result of these considerations UKCESS 2013 moved to a 
2+ employment population (i.e. establishments were eligible if they had two or more 
people working at them, regardless of whether or not they owned the organisation), 
whereas UKCESS 2011 had covered all establishments except those with one working 
proprietor and no employees (to facilitate time-series analysis in each of the four home 
nations).   
The sample design was based on a three-dimensional grid, crossing sizeband (defined 
by employment) by 14 broad SIC-based sectors (see Annex C for definitions) within 
region (9 English GOR regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).  Quotas were set 
on this basis, proportioned to give a robust base size in each subgroup of the overall 
sample.  In addition non-interlocking targets were set for the 151 English LEAs, and sub-
regions in Wales and Northern Ireland. The sample was drawn from Experian’s business 
database. 
91,279 interviews were carried out in total: 
Country 
Number of interviews 
England  
75,255  
Northern Ireland  
4,014 
Scotland  
6,014 
Wales  
5,996  

 
183 
Fieldwork 
A total of 91,279 interviews were conducted by telephone using computer-assisted 
telephone interviewing (CATI) technology. Fieldwork across the regions was undertaken 
by three research agencies, as follows: 
Agency 
Regions 
BMG 
 
 
East Midlands 
South West 
West Midlands 
Yorkshire and Humberside 
 
GfK-NOP 
South East 
IFF Research 
 
London 
North West 
Northern Ireland 
Wales 
Large multisites 
 
Ipsos MORI 
 
East of England 
North East 
Scotland 
 
Interviews were conducted with the most senior person at the site with responsibility for 
recruitment, human resources and workplace skills. Fieldwork took place from March to 
July 2013. 
Response rate 
The overall response rate for the survey was 44 per cent, calculated as a proportion of all 
completed contacts. A detailed breakdown of survey outcomes in shown below: 
Outcome 
Number of 
contacts 
% of all 
sample 
% of 
complete 
contacts 
Total sample 
687,439 
100% 
  
Ineligible 
53,914 
8% 
  
‘Live’ / not available during fieldwork / 
out of quota 
288,276 
42% 
  
Unobtainable number 
136,914 
20% 
  
 
 
 
 
Total complete contacts 
208,108 
30% 
100% 
Achieved interviews 
91,279 
13% 
44% 
Respondent refusal 
74,789 
11% 
36% 
Quits during interview 
10,923 
2% 
5% 
Company policy refusal 
31,117 
5% 
15% 
 

 
184 
 
Questionnaire design 
The questionnaire design aimed to build on the success of the 2011 UKCESS 
questionnaire that had harmonised the legacy surveys.  As a result, UKCESS 2013 did 
not require extensive redevelopment, with the core questionnaire remaining the same. 
However, a considerable period of questionnaire review did take place at the outset of the 
survey with a particular emphasis on:  
1. Reviewing all questions included in the 2011 survey, identifying questions which 
brought less value and/or which were anticipated to have less value to the new 
survey.  
2. Considering whether other questions should be further developed or take added 
prominence.  
3. Integrating the skills equilibrium questions which were asked as a separate, online 
follow-up survey in 2011. 
4. Developing any learnings and or findings from the UK Commission’s Employer 
Perspectives Survey 2012. 
A task and finish group chaired by the UK Commission and including IFF Research, and 
representatives from each of the four nations, was set up to drive this process. 
The questionnaire is available in the full Technical Report. 
Weighting / Grossing up 
Data for the survey was weighted and grossed up to population estimates of 
establishments and to the population of employees, as derived from the 2012 Inter-
Departmental Business Register (IDBR). 
The grossing-up procedure on which this report has been based was undertaken at a 
regional level; within each region grossing up took place on a 14 sector and eight size 
band interlocking grid (i.e. 112 cells). In instances where no interviews had been 
completed in a cell but the IDBR indicated establishments existed, and in instances 
where a low number of interviews were conducted in relation to the population of that cell, 
cells were merged primarily within sizeband (i.e. across industries) but where necessary 
across sizeband as well. 
 
 

 
185 
Employer Skills Survey: Investment in Training follow-up 
A separate Investment in Training study was conducted by IFF Research to provide 
detailed estimates of employer expenditure on training. The approach replicated that of 
previous Cost of Training studies in England and Northern Ireland. 
Sampling 
At the end of the UKCESS Wave 1 questionnaire those respondents who had arranged 
or funded training for their staff in the previous 12 months were asked if they would be 
willing to take part in a follow up study on training expenditure.  Those agreeing to 
participate formed the sample for this follow-up survey. 
Quotas were set on the basis of training type by size within region.  Due to limited sample 
a census approach was taken in the devolved administrations. 
Fieldwork 
Employers who had indicated agreement to take part were called by an IFF interviewer to 
confirm participation and contact details. They were then sent a datasheet via email or 
fax containing the questions that were to be asked in the full interview (a copy of which 
can be seen below). Sending this datasheet in advance allowed the respondent time to 
collect the relevant information and increase the accuracy of responses. A few days after 
sending, an interviewer called back to conduct the full interview. 
In total, information on training expenditure was collected from 13,138 establishments, 
though 616 were rejected because of incompleteness (a large number of ‘don’t know’); 
hence analysis is based on data from 12,522 establishments. 
Fieldwork was undertaken by IFF Research from 2nd May to 6th August 2013. 
Weighting/grossing up 
In order to weight the Investment in Training study, population figures were calculated 
from weighted UKCESS Wave 1 data which had in turn been weighted using the IDBR 
figures used for the main survey analysis.  Data was weighted on the basis of interlocking 
grids on size by sector by the type of training they carried out, with a regional rim weight. 
 
 

 
186 
Data modelling 
In order to calculate overall training expenditure, each record in the dataset needed to 
have a response to each question (even if it is a zero in relation to types of training the 
establishments does not supply). As expected, not every respondent was able to supply 
every piece of information. In order to ‘fill in’ the missing data, averages were drawn from 
those respondents who were able to answer each question and applied to those cases 
with missing data. 
Full details of how this modelling was carried out can be found in the Technical Report. 
As outlined in further detail in the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013 
Technical Report, a couple of key methodological changes have been implemented since 
the last survey was conducted in 2011: 
 
As a result of moving to a 2+ employment population, the 2011 survey has been re-
weighted based on the 2013 population in order to facilitate direct comparisons with 
UKCES 2013. This means that 2011 figures that appear in the 2013 report will not 
necessarily match those published in the 2011 report itself; 
 
For practical purposes in both 2013 and 2011 employers were asked to report total 
employees’ salaries rather than the total cost of employing them.  These figures were 
then up-weighted to take account of National Insurance, employer pension 
contributions, overtime and other additional elements to produce a figure for total 
cost. The figure used to derive the total cost of employment was taken from Labour 
Cost Index (LCI) data appearing on the Eurostat website where, to ensure accuracy, 
revisions are frequent and can go back several years27. Amendments to the data have 
been made since 2011 and as such the UK figure for the total wages and salaries as 
a percentage of total labour costs that were the most up to date in 2011 is different to 
the figures now appearing for the same time period. 
 
 
                                                 
27 (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Labour_cost_index_-_recent_trends)  

 
187 
Annex J: Effect of the 2+ Employment Reweight on 
2011 Data 
The 2013 survey population covers all establishments with two or more people working at 
them (whether or not these people are working proprietors). The 2011 survey also 
covered this population, and in addition included establishments with one employee who 
was not a working proprietor.  Therefore in order to compare 2013 data with 2011 data, it 
has been necessary to reweight the 2011 data to the 2+ employment population. 
Whilst the establishments removed from the data do not differ significantly from other 
micro establishments in terms of the amount they recruit or train staff, removing them 
from the data has a considerable impact on survey results because of the difference it 
makes to the population.  In the original data reported from the 2011 survey, the smallest 
sizeband (one to four staff) accounted for 64 per cent of the population. If we remove 
establishments with just one employee on site this reduces to 52 per cent. It is this 
change in the population weighted to that has the largest impact on the data. 
The tables in this annex show the key incidence and volume figures reported in the 
UKCESS 2011 survey, and how they were affected by the reweight.  A full set of 
reweighted tables from the 2011 survey accompany the 2013 survey outputs in order to 
facilitate the time-series comparison. 
 
2011 reported figure 
(including 1 
employee group) 
2011 reweighted 
figure (excluding 1 
employee group; 
comparable to 2013) 
Size profile 
% 
% 
1-4 / 2-4  
64 
52 
5-24 
28 
37 
25-99  
6 
8 
100-249 
1 
1 
250+  
1 
1 
Vacancy  
 
 
% of estabs with a vacancy  
12 
14 
Number of vacancies 
635,900 
586,500 
% of estabs with a hard-to-fill vacancy 
4 
4 
% of estabs with a skill-shortage vacancy 
3 
3 
Number of skill-shortage vacancies 
103,500 
91,400 
Internal Skills Mismatch  
 
 
% of estabs with a skills gap 
13 
17 
Number of skills gaps 
1,489,500 
1,485,500 

 
188 
 
2011 reported figure 
(including 1 
employee group) 
2011 reweighted 
figure (excluding 1 
employee group; 
comparable to 2013) 
Training  
 
 
% doing any training 
59 
65 
% doing off-the-job training 
42 
47 
Number of staff trained 
14,972,000 
14,733,000 
Days training per trainee 
7.8 
7.8 
Days training per employee 
4.3 
4.2 
Vacancy figures rounded to nearest 100, skills gaps and staff trained rounded to nearest 1,000. 
 
 

 
189 
Annex K: Bibliography 
BIS (2012) Leadership & Management in the UK – The Key to Sustainable Growth. 
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London.  
Inter Departmental Business Register (March 2012). ONS. 
Labour Force Survey, UK, October-December 1993 and 2010. ONS. 
Stone, I., Braidford, P., Housten, M. and Bolger, F. (2012) Promoting High Performance 
Working. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London. 
UKCES (2009) High Performance Working: A Synthesis of Key Literature. UKCES 
Evidence Report 4, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Wath-upon-
Dearne. 
UKCES (2010) National Employer Skills Survey for England 2009: Key findings report. 
UKCES Evidence Report 23, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, London. 
UKCES (2012a) UK Employer Skills Survey 2011, UKCES Evidence Report 45, UK 
Commission for Employment and Skills, London.  
UKCES (2012b) The Youth Employment Challenge.  UK Commission for Employment 
and Skills, Wath-upon-Dearne. 
UKCES (2012c) UK Commission’s Employer Perspectives Survey 2012. UKCES 
Evidence report 64, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, London. 
UKCES (2013) Training in the Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on 
training at work. UKCES Evidence Report 72, UK Commission for Employment and 
Skills, London. 
Winterbotham, M., Shury, J., Carter, K. and Schäfer, S. (2008) National Employer Skills 
Survey 2007: Main Report: Learning and Skills Council, Coventry. 
Young, V., and Morrell, J. (2006) Future Skills Wales 2005: Sector Skills Survey Main 
Report. Future Skills Wales, Caerphilly. 
 
 
 
 

 
190 
Annex L: List of Previous Publications 
Executive summaries and full versions of all these reports are available from 
www.ukces.org.uk 
 
Evidence Report 1 
Skills for the Workplace: Employer Perspectives 
 
Evidence Report 2 
Working Futures 2007-2017 
 
Evidence Report 3 
Employee Demand for Skills: A Review of Evidence & Policy 
 
Evidence Report 4 
High Performance Working: A Synthesis of Key Literature 
 
Evidence Report 5 
High Performance Working: Developing a Survey Tool 
 
Evidence Report 6 
Review of Employer Collective Measures: A Conceptual Review from a Public 
Policy Perspective 
 
Evidence Report 7 
Review of Employer Collective Measures: Empirical Review 
 
Evidence Report 8 
Review of Employer Collective Measures: Policy Review 
 
Evidence Report 9 
Review of Employer Collective Measures: Policy Prioritisation 
 
Evidence Report 10 
Review of Employer Collective Measures: Final Report 
 
Evidence Report 11 
The Economic Value of Intermediate Vocational Education and Qualifications 
 
Evidence Report 12 
UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2009 
 
Evidence Report 13 
National Employer Skills Survey 2009: Key Findings 
 
Evidence Report 14 
Strategic Skills Needs in the Biomedical Sector: A Report for the National Strategic 
Skills Audit for England, 2010 
 
Evidence Report 15 
Strategic Skills Needs in the Financial Services Sector: A Report for the National 
Strategic Skills Audit for England, 2010 
 
Evidence Report 16 
Strategic Skills Needs in the Low carbon Energy generation Sector: A Report for 
the National Strategic Skills Audit for England, 2010 
 

 
191 
Evidence Report 17 
Horizon Scanning and Scenario Building: Scenarios for Skills 2020 
 
Evidence Report 18 
High Performance Working: A Policy Review 
 
Evidence Report 19 
High Performance Working: Employer Case Studies 
 
Evidence Report 20 
A Theoretical Review of Skill Shortages and Skill Needs 
 
Evidence Report 21 
High Performance Working: Case Studies Analytical Report 
 
Evidence Report 22 
The Value of Skills: An Evidence Review 
 
Evidence Report 23 
National Employer Skills Survey for England 2009: Main Report 
 
Evidence Report 24 
Perspectives and Performance of Investors in People: A Literature Review 
 
Evidence Report 25 
UK Employer Perspectives Survey 2010 
 
Evidence Report 26  
UK Employment and Skills Almanac 2010 
 
Evidence Report 27  
Exploring Employer Behaviour in relation to Investors in People 
 
Evidence Report 28 
Investors in People - Research on the New Choices Approach 
 
Evidence Report 29 
Defining and Measuring Training Activity 
 
Evidence Report 30 
Product strategies, skills shortages and skill updating needs in England: New 
evidence from the National Employer Skills Survey, 2009 
 
Evidence Report 31 
Skills for Self-employment 
 
Evidence Report 32 
The impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled 
people 
 
Evidence Report 33 
Rebalancing the Economy Sectorally and Spatially: An Evidence Review 
 
Evidence Report 34 
Maximising Employment and Skills in the Offshore Wind Supply Chain  
 
Evidence Report 35 
The Role of Career Adaptability in Skills Supply 
 

 
192 
Evidence Report 36 
The Impact of Higher Education for Part-Time Students 
 
Evidence Report 37 
International approaches to high performance working 
 
Evidence Report 38 
The Role of Skills from Worklessness to Sustainable Employment with Progression 
 
Evidence Report 39 
Skills and Economic Performance: The Impact of Intangible Assets on UK 
Productivity Growth 
 
Evidence Report 40 
A Review of Occupational Regulation and its Impact 
 
Evidence Report 41 
Working Futures 2010-2020 
 
Evidence Report 42 
International Approaches to the Development of Intermediate Level Skills and 
Apprenticeships 
 
Evidence Report 43 
Engaging low skilled employees in workplace learning 
 
Evidence Report 44 
Developing Occupational Skills Profiles for the UK 
 
Evidence Report 45 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: UK Results 
 
Evidence Report 46 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: England Results 
 
Evidence Report 47 
Understanding Training Levies 
 
Evidence Report 48 
Sector Skills Insights: Advanced Manufacturing 
 
Evidence Report 49 
Sector Skills Insights: Digital and Creative 
 
Evidence Report 50 
Sector Skills Insights: Construction 
 
Evidence Report 51 
Sector Skills Insights: Energy 
 
Evidence Report 52 
Sector Skills Insights: Health and Social Care 
 
Evidence Report 53 
Sector Skills Insights: Retail 
 
Evidence Report 54 
Research to support the evaluation of Investors in People: Employer Survey 
 

 
193 
Evidence Report 55 
Sector Skills Insights: Tourism 
 
Evidence Report 56 
Sector Skills Insights: Professional and Business Services 
 
Evidence Report 57 
Sector Skills Insights: Education 
 
Evidence Report 58 
Evaluation of Investors in People: Employer Case Studies 
 
Evidence Report 59 
An Initial Formative Evaluation of Best Market Solutions 
 
Evidence Report 60 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: Northern Ireland National Report 
 
Evidence Report 61 
UK Skill levels and international competitiveness 
 
Evidence Report 62 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: Wales Results 
 
Evidence Report 63 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: Technical Report 
 
Evidence Report 64 
The UK Commission’s Employer Perspectives Survey 2012 
 
Evidence Report 65 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: Scotland Results 
 
Evidence Report 66 
Understanding Employer Networks 
 
Evidence Report 67 
Understanding Occupational Regulation   
 
Evidence Report 68 
Research to support the Evaluation of Investors in People: Employer Survey (Year 
2) 
 
Evidence Report 69 
Qualitative Evaluation of the Employer Investment Fund Phase 1 
 
Evidence Report 70 
Research to support the evaluation of Investors in People: employer case studies 
(Year 2) 
 
Evidence Report 71 
High Performance Working in the Employer Skills Surveys  
 
Evidence Report 72 
Training in Recession: The impact of the 2008-2009 recession on training at work  
 
Evidence Report 73 
Technology and skills in the Digital Industries 
 

 
194 
Evidence Report 74 
Technology and skills in the Construction Industry 
 
Evidence Report 75 
Secondary analysis of employer surveys: Urban/rural differences in access and 
barriers to jobs and training 
 
Evidence Report 76 
Technology and Skills in the Aerospace and Automotive Industries 
 
Evidence Report 77 
Supply of and demand for High-Level STEM skills  
 
Evidence Report 78 
A Qualitative Evaluation of Demand-led Skills Solutions: Growth and Innovation 
Fund and Employer Investment Fund 
 
Evidence Report 79 
A Qualitative Evaluation of Demand-led Skills Solutions: standards and 
frameworks 
 
Evidence Report 80 
Forecasting the Benefits of the UK Commission’s Programme of Investments 
 
Evidence Report 81 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013: UK Results 
 
Evidence Report 82 
UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013: Technical Report 
 
 

Evidence Reports present detailed ﬁndings of the research 
produced by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. 
The reports contribute to the accumulation of knowledge 
and intelligence on skills and employment issues through the 
review of existing evidence or through primary research.
All of the outputs of the UK Commission can be 
accessed on our website at www.ukces.org.uk 
UKCES
Renaissance House
Adwick Park
Wath-upon-Dearne
Rotherham
S63 5NB
T xx-xxxx-xxxx
F xx-xxxx-xxxx
UKCES
Sanctuary Buildings 
Great Smith St.
Westminster 
London
SW1P 3BT
T xx-xxxx-xxxx
This document is available at 
www.ukces.org.uk 
under “Publications”
ISBN 978-1-908418-61 -6
© UKCES 1st Ed/12.12