In this session, recorded Wednesday 6 April 2022, the CBI’s Programme Director for Skills and Inclusion, Matthew Percival was joined by Robert Skae, HR Business Partner, Siemens Plc, Lindsay Winter, Senior Manager for Inclusion and Careers, Virgin Money and Ian Woodcroft, Public Affairs Manager, CITB. They took part in a wide-ranging discussion on the current skills gaps facing businesses and shared insights on how their companies have overcome these challenges.
06 Apr 2022, 4 min read
Watch the webinar
Speakers:
- Matthew Percival, Programme Director – Changing Workforce, CBI
- Robert Skae, HR Business Partner, Siemens Plc
- Lindsay Winter, Senior Manager for Inclusion and Careers, Virgin Money
- Ian Woodcroft, Public Affairs Manager, CITB
- Liz Moseley, Editor and Partner, Tortoise Media (Chair)
In this session:
Matthew Percival
- Energy security strategy has now been published. You can view CBI reaction here.
- Our survey data shows that 42% manufacturers are saying skills and labour shortages are a factor likely to limit their output in the next quarter – the highest in 50 years.
- The share saying it’s likely to impact their business investment has also been rising.
- Similar trends in official labour market data - rising employment, falling unemployment, but crucially we are seeing stubbornly higher inactivity than we had before the pandemic.
- Lots of reasons for this are understandable due to health-related absences, long-covid etc and reduced number of workers over age 50 in the labour market.
- Employers now needing to think more about workforce health, supporting people back to work, and older workers.
- Supply chains and inflation are also contributing to multiple headwinds for firms.
- You can view our CEO action plan on shortages here.
Lindsay Winter (Virgin Money)
- Have implemented a strategy of ‘Digital Skills’ so have been looking at how they can fill these new roles.
- Have become less focused on location regarding recruitment post-covid as doesn’t matter for a lot of positions and it is helping create a more diverse workforce.
- Also been looking at upskilling existing colleagues via training, apprenticeship levy – not a quick fix but looking at both long/short-term solutions.
- Working with a new recruitment partner and thinking about "how to find people that don't know they want to work for us yet?"
- Trying to identify where prospective recruit’s hangout, what content they consume etc and using personas of colleagues to help create a framework for our recruitment approach.
- But busy and turbulent market but lucky they have a good brand.
Ian Woodcroft (CITB)
- Construction sector has seen growth of just under 6% this year and around half of that again for 2024/25 but a really strong headwind against that.
- Estimate around 7% of the workforce gone since pandemic and there are 50,000 vacancies across the industry at the moment. Key skills in demand include bricklaying, brick operatives and new regulatory and health and services roles.
- Big mismatch emerging between skills currently in the workforce and those needed now and for future government priorities such as green skills and IT.
- Construction apprenticeship starts are getting back to pre-pandemic levels, but employers are having to turn down contracts because they can't deal with the demand.
- In terms of making the industry more attractive, many are actively trying to improve mental health and diversity.
- Also facing challenge of ‘inactive workers’ so industry has lost part of all of that worker.
- Have established dedicated trade platform - GoConstruct – website data shows 99,000 who registered went to next steps. Involved construction firms going out to schools, FE colleges etc to deliver career guidance.
- Also need to develop effective and creative industry pathways which employers buy into.
- Construction Ambassadors going into schools up and down the country. SkillsBuilder and going to be tolling out 'taster' experiences.
Robert Skae (Siemens)
- We are a technology and engineering company and we’re still entering new markets.
- What we’re seeing is an increased pace of change - so many different factors impacting these shortages. Changes in tech, digital disruption, attitudes to hybrid and flexible working and workplace cultures.
- It is an employee market currently and cost of living crisis factoring into people’s decisions and thinking of do I need to go out and look for a higher salary?
- Siemens have implemented “workplace profiling”: a form of strategic workforce planning where they invite a number of people from all over the business including graduates, apprentices, and different job families, bring them all together to ask them what bigger picture changes they can see in the industry over next 3-5 years to help prevent skills gaps.
- This could include changes coming in the industry, changes in what customers are asking for, and changes in job roles etc.
- This helps Siemens think about what additional roles/ skills will we need more/less of in the future.
- Important to encourage employees to invest in their work training to help address longer-term skills gaps.