In this episode of Take Five, Lindsay Conroy, Director of Policy & Strategic Engagement at The 5% Club, is joined by Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute, recorded during Get the Nation Learning Week. Together they look at why employer investment in skills has fallen, what government and employers could do about it, and why that matters for every organisation thinking about its workforce. Stephen sets out the scale of the problem as he sees it. He says employers are spending less on training than 20 years ago, government spends about £1 billion less on skills in England than in 2010, and one in three UK adults has a Level 2 qualification as their highest, while more jobs now ask for Level 3 or above. With longer working lives, he points out that more than 80% of the 2035 workforce has already left compulsory education, so meeting future skills needs means investing in adults already at work. He also highlights an inequality: graduates are around three times more likely to receive training at work than non-graduates, even though those who missed out often have the most to gain. The conversation explores why employers pull back. Flat economic growth, rising costs and uncertainty make training budgets an easy early cut, and in sectors with high staff turnover, firms worry about paying to train people who then leave. Stephen is realistic that there will be no big new pot of public money. Instead, he sets out three practical ideas for government. First, make the system easier to navigate, linking skills advice to wider business support and building on brokerage through mayors. Second, make it easier for employers to work together, for example through sector levies like those in construction and engineering, or through mayors bringing local employers together in a “something for something” deal. Third, introduce a skills tax credit, modelled on R&D tax relief. Lindsay raises the risk of paying for training that would happen anyway, and Stephen, a former Treasury official, explains how targeting could limit that, along with the trade-off between simplicity and cost. The discussion then turns to the case employers can make internally. Stephen argues that lower turnover, reduced recruitment and induction costs, higher productivity and readiness for changes like AI all make investing in people worthwhile, and that not investing can be a false economy. He shares examples from the Get the Nation Learning Awards: an NHS trust that recruited apprentices locally and cut its spend on temporary staff, and a small engineering firm that saw productivity rise after focusing on apprenticeships and professional qualifications. He also describes the Learning and Work Institute’s own annual allowance for non-work learning, which staff have used for everything from pottery to Japanese. For employers listening, Stephen’s advice is simple. Check whether training is spread evenly across your workforce, especially between graduates and non-graduates. Think widely about where your talent could come from, including the almost one million young people not in education, employment or training. Sign the Get the Nation Learning Charter, and consider nominating for next year’s awards. Links The 5% Club: 5percentclub.org.ukLearning and Work Institute: https://learningandwork.org.uk/Get the Nation Learning campaign Home: https://getthenationlearning.org.uk/Get the Nation Learning Charter: https://getthenationlearning.org.uk/get-the-nation-learning-charter/Get the Nation Learning Week: https://getthenationlearning.org.uk/get-the-nation-learning-week/Get the Nation Learning Awards: https://getthenationlearning.org.uk/get-the-nation-learning-awards
