One of the key objectives of the Regional Skills Partnership is for 'every employer to have the skilled people they need, to make effective use of their skills and to invest in workforce development'.
However, a key finding of the Regional Skills Assessment 2006 was that the proportion of staff being trained by their employer was the lowest in the country. Rates of investment were found to be particularly low in the engineering and manufacturing, construction, retail and transport sectors.
Research on the benefits and barriers to investment in skills by employers (1.12 MB, PDF) explores via a series of employer and employee case studies:
- Good practice among the region's employers in terms of investment in training and up-skilling and in the development and deployment of employees' skills.
- The benefits of this activity for both businesses and individuals.
- Barriers that employers face when looking to make such investment.
The intention is for the research to inform partners' work in making the case for investment in skills and to develop a more demand-led approach to the supply and funding of education and training.