The Chancellor Gordon Brown and Education Secretary Alan Johnson have called on employers to sign up to a 'Skills Pledge' to ensure that all their employees reach a skills level equivalent to five good GCSEs.

The Skills Pledge, part of a plan to equip Britain's workforce for the future, will share responsibility between the State, employer and employees and will be open to all employers. It is designed to stimulate demand for training services and support a new culture where gaining skills is taken as a matter of course.

Johnson says: "We are kick-starting a public debate on the best way to improve skills in this country, our future competitiveness depends on it. Employers have a crucial role to play in this and must make skills training relevant for the challenges of the future. It is also vital we generate a culture of learning amongst individuals.”

To help adults get the skills they require to gain employment the government is implementing a 'demand-led' funding system to meet employers' needs and gear training to their requirements.

Employers making the Skills Pledge would commit to a training plan building on the needs of their business. The plan would show timescales for training all staff as well as committing resources and setting priorities.

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