Lack of skills on shop floor 'hitting company profits'
TAKING on unqualified staff with no basic jobs skills can cause company profits to fall,
according to a Gallup survey published today.
It also showed that managers would prefer not to hire graduates because of the extra training
they require.One firm in two believes its profitability is affected by a shortage of skilled
youngsters and large firms will look abroad to fill vacancies, said the survey for the Business
and Technology Education Council.
Parents encouraged youngsters to try for academic, instead of vocational, qualifications. A total of 420 youngsters and 417 parents were questioned and half were against vocational qualifications, despite low levels of unemployment among those holding them.
Only a quarter of employers believed academic qualifications provided useful work skills. Almost 60 per cent of surveyed firms employing more than 250 staff believed practical skills were important.
BTEC was set up in 1983 to promote work-related programmes for half a million students who can gain General National Vocational Qualifications which can lead to degree courses in universities.
John Tate, BTEC corporate planning and development director, said the early engineering "apprenticeship" scheme was one of dozens tried by managements desperate to get the right type of staff.
Mr Tate said public education was needed to persuade parents to abandon their prejudices about GNVQs.
He said: "We have found that it is practical skills that are in increasing demand. Many of the students who follow BTEC courses such as the new GNVQs are looking to gain key core skills to help launch their careers whether or not they have decided what job they want to do."
Some companies searching for the right type of young person to employ on the shop floor have taken desperate measures. Among them:A Kent firm is targeting 15-year-olds for a special 25-week engineering course which lasts an hour a week after school, to give youngsters the chance to get hands-on work experience.
Another firm is so keen to get the right staff that it has placed advertisements in every job centre in Britain.
A caviar company has offered commission to staff to find suitable people.
