A new report has called for government and business investment in skills, describing access to training as “a boon for people’s pay and careers”.
The report, No train no gain – Can the UK boost job mobility and pay growth over the next decade?, used Understanding Society, ONS’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the Labour Force Survey, and the Employer Skills Survey for its analysis. It says “People who receive and participate in training are paid more; experience quicker and more sustained salary growth; and are more likely to move into highly skilled roles. The training dividend is greatest for those on the lower rungs of the occupational ladder.”
Findings from the report include:
- those who receive training earn an average of £3,400 (gross) a month, compared to £2,950 for those who don’t get training
- people in the lowest socioeconomic categories who get training earn around 15% more than those who don’t
- workers who begin in routine and semi-routine roles climb an average of two socioeconomic categories when they get training.
It adds that “reductions in funding for training have been substantial and long lasting from both government and employers. Cuts in public funding have fallen hardest on Level 2 qualifications which most benefit those in lower-paid work and lower socioeconomic groups.”
The report calls for action from government and industry, including specific policy such as “a Skills Tax Credit modelled on the existing R&D tax credit”, which helps to reduce the risk to firms of investing in research and development. The authors say “the case for a Skills Tax Credit is fundamentally the same, with an individual’s higher skill levels being good for the economy, whether or not they remain with the employer who funded their training”.
The report has been supported by former education secretary and home secretary Alan Johnson, who has written in the Financial Times that “Government investment in adult skills in England has fallen by £1bn since 2010”, and that “the UK must escape the doom loop of low skills”.
