Government announcement on skills shortages today is
‘yet another knee jerk reaction’ says Unite
7 March 2011
Commenting on the government’s announcement today (7 March) to
inject £50 million per year into boosting skills to avoid skill
shortages, Unite assistant general secretary, Tony Burke, said:
“The government’s announcement is yet another ‘knee jerk’ reaction
to a problem Unite has been warning about for a number of
years.
“While any help to boost skills is welcome, the problem is this
government has no long-term strategy on skills which is what we
really need in manufacturing.
“There are a number of companies who do invest in the skills of
their workforce. However, we are facing skill shortages because of
a ‘make do and mend’ attitude from some employers and the lack of
awareness of the benefits of taking on apprentices and retraining
the workforce.
“We are also aware that some companies will not invest in skills
and take on apprentices, because they don’t know what is round the
corner. They are fearful of interest rate increases. A number of
companies who provide goods to the public sector are concerned as
to whether the orders will dry up through the government’s
austerity measures – some companies have told us they just will not
take the risk.
“Equally, the £50 million per year has to be match-funded by
employers and we doubt whether some industries in manufacturing
will show enough interest. We note that the government has now
resurrected the issue of voluntary levies but our experience shows
that employers will shy away from voluntary levies.
“What we really need is a long-term skills strategy, easily
understood by industry, backed up by compulsory levies for those
industries who fail to take on sufficient apprentices and invest in
training. If this government is serious about rebalancing the
economy, we need to invest in the UK’s manufacturing skills base
with a long-term solution.”
ENDS
For further information contact Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite
press office on 020 7420 8914 or 07980 224761
