Learn-while-you-earn models can help address UK skills needs, says CBI
1 August 2013
Employers’ organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has highlighted in a report the need for alternatives to the traditional graduate route into employment if the UK is going to meet the requirement for a more highly skilled workforce.
Thu, 1 Aug 2013Employers’ organisation the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has highlighted in a report the need for alternatives to the traditional graduate route into employment if the UK is going to meet the requirement for a more highly skilled workforce.
Tomorrow's Growth says that between now and 2020, “the majority of jobs will be created in high-skilled posts”, while lower-skilled and elementary positions will become less prevalent in the labour market as a whole, although the number of unskilled posts may still rise overall.
Katja Hall, CBI chief policy officer, calls for new approaches to meet the UK’s rising skill level needs.
“Meeting the higher skills challenge rests on the extent to which we can widen gateways into skilled work and promote routes to higher skills that appeal to individuals to whom a degree may not be the best option, ” says Hall.
The report calls for businesses and universities to work more closely together, and suggests that ‘learn-while-you-earn’ models of study, through which students support their study and career development by remaining in work, have an important role in meeting the UK’s skill needs.
Tony Howard, head of degrees at work in Anglia Ruskin University – which works with around 200 employers, including Harrods, the Red Cross and UPS, to provide training and qualifications for staff while they are employed – agrees that traditional degrees are not the best option for everyone.
He says that Anglia Ruskin has targeted those occupational areas highlighted in the CBI report, for example by upskilling 100 employees of charities in how to better run and manage their organisations.
Howard says there are not yet enough universities offering flexible ways of learning to meet the UK’s skill needs. However, he predicts that more universities will offer this approach as demand grows. “There is a growing number of students looking to gain skills in this way,” he says.
Tomorrow's Growth says that between now and 2020, “the majority of jobs will be created in high-skilled posts”, while lower-skilled and elementary positions will become less prevalent in the labour market as a whole, although the number of unskilled posts may still rise overall.
Katja Hall, CBI chief policy officer, calls for new approaches to meet the UK’s rising skill level needs.
“Meeting the higher skills challenge rests on the extent to which we can widen gateways into skilled work and promote routes to higher skills that appeal to individuals to whom a degree may not be the best option, ” says Hall.
The report calls for businesses and universities to work more closely together, and suggests that ‘learn-while-you-earn’ models of study, through which students support their study and career development by remaining in work, have an important role in meeting the UK’s skill needs.
Tony Howard, head of degrees at work in Anglia Ruskin University – which works with around 200 employers, including Harrods, the Red Cross and UPS, to provide training and qualifications for staff while they are employed – agrees that traditional degrees are not the best option for everyone.
He says that Anglia Ruskin has targeted those occupational areas highlighted in the CBI report, for example by upskilling 100 employees of charities in how to better run and manage their organisations.
Howard says there are not yet enough universities offering flexible ways of learning to meet the UK’s skill needs. However, he predicts that more universities will offer this approach as demand grows. “There is a growing number of students looking to gain skills in this way,” he says.
