On 14 June 2001, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published its fourth annual employment trends survey, carried out in conjunction with consulting firm William M Mercer. The survey, carried out in March and April 2001, reports the responses of 673 private sector employers and covers a wide range of labour market issues, including employer reaction to regulation, such as the use of opt-outs from working time limits, the introduction of employee consultation mechanisms and "work-life balance" initiatives. Some of its key findings are outlined below.
The Confederation of British Industry's annual employment trends survey, published in June 2001, presents a picture of significant workplace change prompted by both regulation and competition.
On 14 June 2001, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published its fourth annual employment trends survey, carried out in conjunction with consulting firm William M Mercer. The survey, carried out in March and April 2001, reports the responses of 673 private sector employers and covers a wide range of labour market issues, including employer reaction to regulation, such as the use of opt-outs from working time limits, the introduction of employee consultation mechanisms and "work-life balance" initiatives. Some of its key findings are outlined below.
As in the previous year (UK0007180N), companies saw high levels of workforce and management skills as the key drivers of present and future competitiveness. Few respondents ranked low labour costs and freedom to adjust the size of the labour force as important factors influencing competitive advantage.
More employers are reported to have taken steps to improve the employability of their employees. The majority of firms said that they offered financial support for independent study (72%), time off for independent study (64%) and training beyond the needs of the current job (62%) - in each case representing an increase on the previous year's figures (66%, 55% and 47% respectively).
The survey asked about the use of opt-outs by individual employees from the 48-hour statutory limit on average weekly working hours (UK9810154F). Overall, 47% of companies reported that they had some opted-out employees amongst their workforce, but larger employers were more likely to use the opt-out than smaller companies (66% in the case of companies with 5,000 employees and 71% of companies with 500-4,999 employees). Opt-outs are more common amongst managerial and professional staff than other workers.
Asked whether the administrative burden of compliance with employment legislation had changed during the previous year, 72% of employers said that it had increased, compared with 84% in the previous survey.
In the light of the likely adoption of the proposed EU Directive on national information and consultation rules (EU0106219F), a notable finding concerned the extent of formal employee consultation procedures. Nearly half of employers (47%) said that they already had a permanent mechanism for consulting employees (other than a European Works Council or a health and safety committee) - typically a staff council. A further 10% planned to introduce such mechanisms. Larger organisations were more likely to have such arrangements than smaller ones: consultation mechanisms exist in 65% of companies with 5,000 employees.
The survey also asked about the use of "workforce agreements" to gain flexibility on working time (UK9810154F) and parental leave (UK9912144F) issues. Some 15% of respondents said that they had introduced such agreements, compared with 10% in the previous survey.
Some form of work-life balance policy was reported by the vast majority of companies (90%). The most prevalent category was "family-friendly" working patterns (eg part-time work, flexi-time and term-time work), reported by 82% of respondents, followed by emergency time off for dependants beyond the statutory minimum, offered by 57%. Almost half (47%) offered paternity leave, and 43% provided maternity leave or pay in excess of the statutory minimum. Again, the extent to which companies offered work-life balance policies varied significantly according to company size, with larger employers having the most extensive provision. Paid paternity leave was offered by 41% of companies and paid parental leave by 39% - a "dramatic increase" on the 14% of companies which offered paid parental leave in the previous year.
Of the range of equal opportunities issues, putting in place family-friendly policies was seen the key priority for 2001, identified by 70% of respondents. Age discrimination was the second most pressing issue - mentioned by 51% of companies.
Skill shortages and gaps are reported to have risen significantly over the past year and 39% of respondents said that this has had a significant impact on business performance. On training provision, 68% of companies said that they had increased their training expenditure.
Commenting on the findings, Mark Edelsten, European partner at William M Mercer, said that the survey pointed to a "[rapid] change in British work culture". He stated: "British employers are beginning to evolve a new approach to people management. Driven by competition to attract and retain skilled workers, a unique British model is being moulded that combines key elements of employment practice from the US and continental Europe while retaining features of traditional UK people management."
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2001), CBI survey highlights impact of regulation on employers, article.
