Shropshire entrepreneur calls for 'multi-pronged approach' to address skills gaps

Hollie Whittles, who is a skills policy champion at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), also said a 'greater focus' needs to be found to help small firms to use new ideas and technologies as they emerge.

Data from this year’s Business Barometer report published by The Open University recently found nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of UK organisations are still reporting worrying skills shortages.

It said that organisations also reported a lack of confidence (64 per cent) in applying either new AI or green technologies, skills that employers agree are crucial to growth and sustainability for UK businesses and the wider economy.

Reflecting on the findings, Hollie said: “When it comes to small employers, a significant majority have struggled to fill vacancies because of skills shortages.

"FSB’s research found that of those who’ve tried to recruit, 78 per cent experienced difficulties and, in most cases, that was at least in part down to a lack of candidates with relevant skills, qualifications or experience.

“This doesn’t just hold back individual businesses, it acts as a barrier to economic growth. Whoever forms the next Government should prioritise a multi-pronged approach to addressing skills gaps, both among the workforce and supporting small business owners and the self-employed to upskill.

“This includes building employability skills into the school curriculum, support for apprenticeships in SMEs, a ‘kickstart’-style scheme to help people who’ve faced difficulty joining or re-entering the labour market due to their health, and skills development schemes for entrepreneurs themselves."

On AI, she added: “Artificial Intelligence is a technological advance which has the potential to revolutionise some businesses, but our research tells us almost half (46 per cent) of small businesses say they or their workforce lack the knowledge or skills to utilise AI. Therefore there needs to be a greater focus from the next Government on enabling small firms to use new ideas and technologies as they emerge.”

On the issue of AI, its impact on skills doesn’t appear to be having a big impact on the companies surveyed in the In-Comm Training barometer.

Six per cent of firms admit to embracing Artificial Intelligence to boost their skills.

Whilst supply chains and back-office processes seem to be the main early adopters, there is still some way to go to educate businesses on how AI can be used to develop workforces and support upskilling.

In-Comm's Gareth Jones said: “I believe it will follow the same trajectory as Industry 4.0 and digitisation. Once slow to be adopted, data is the new gold and enabling companies to make informed real-time decisions and actions.”