Cost and time are barriers to training

Although two thirds (74%) of manufacturing firms questioned believe it is the responsibility of the company to train staff, only 48% are prepared to invest in training, according to the survey of nearly 500 SMEs across six industry sectors conducted by FreshMinds. Jaine Clarke, national director, skills for employers at the Learning and Skills Council, which manages the Train to Gain service, says: “Getting skilled is key to our future as a nation in a global economy. It is also key to our future individually as the need to better our own skills is becoming even more evident as competition increases. “That’s why we’ve invested in Train to Gain, designed to drive up the nation’s skills by tackling historic barriers to learning, such as cost and time. We want it to be as easy as possible for people to access information and understand what help is available for them to get the skills needed to get on in life and business”. Train to Gain is designed to help businesses get the training they need to succeed and provides tailored, independent advice to businesses through a network of skills brokers - covering any issue from sourcing the right course or training provider, to finding out if any funding exists. Of the six sectors surveyed by FreshMinds, 10% of manufacturing firms have already used Train to Gain and 43% are willing to consider it. David Lammy, minister for skills in the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills says: “In launching a major new marketing campaign, we are responding to the challenge set out by Lord Leitch in his Review of Skills, to bring about a culture change in the nation’s attitude to skills. “Achieving our world class ambition means dramatically increasing the number of adults who improve their skills and achieve qualifications each year at all levels, from functional literacy and numeracy, to higher education levels. To deliver our ambition, we must forge a new partnership between government, employers and individuals, with each taking responsibility for increasing their action and investment. “We need to dramatically raise awareness and aspirations on skills. We need employers to see the value of and the need to invest in skills at all levels. And we need individuals to pay more attention to and take action to address their skills needs.”