Prioritise training for year ahead says Semta

With new funding from the Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), Semta said it was working with employers "to develop sustainable solutions to sector challenges such as the competitiveness of the UK supply chain, barriers to hiring apprentices and increasing the number of SMEs hiring graduates". Semta chief executive Philip Whiteman (pictured) claimed that employers working with his organisation generally saw a 6:1 return on their training investment. "However," he went on, "with our research showing that almost a fifth of employers in our sectors have skills gaps within their organisations, the first step is for all companies to take an honest look at their business challenges and work with Semta to identify exactly what development will make them more competitive. "The latest N/SVQ data demonstrates a slight decline in the number of registrations compared to the same period last year. Worryingly, the biggest drop was in Level 3 registrations which fell nine per cent. Looking to the year ahead, it is so important that businesses understand the importance of upskilling to higher competency levels and growing their own future talent to tackle skills gaps and shortages."