TUC report calls for equal access to workplace training
Published: 25 November 2007
A Trades Union Congress (TUC [1]) report, Time to tackle the training divide (734Kb PDF) [2] – published in August 2007 – examines training patterns in UK workplaces. The research draws on data from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) and from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD [3]).[1] http://www.tuc.org.uk[2] http://www.tuc.org.uk/skills/tuc-13698-f0.pdf[3] http://www.oecd.org/
A recent report from the Trades Union Congress calls for a concerted effort by the UK government, employers, trade unions and other stakeholders to improve employees’ access to workplace training. At present, this access varies – particularly in relation to skills and education levels. For example, Labour Force Survey data show that 41% of graduate employees and just 12% of unqualified employees participated in job-related training in the spring quarter of 2006.
A Trades Union Congress (TUC) report, Time to tackle the training divide (734Kb PDF) – published in August 2007 – examines training patterns in UK workplaces. The research draws on data from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) and from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The quarterly LFS, undertaken by the government, provides key statistics on access to job-related training. The survey involves 60,000 households and includes labour market information on almost 120,000 people aged 16 years and over.
The OECD data were first published in the 2006 edition of its annual publication, Education at a glance; in this review, training duration data from a range of surveys such as the EU LFS were used for the first time. The OECD was thus able to provide a new estimate of the average amount of time that adults in a specific country expect to spend in job-related training during their working lives.
More training for qualified and highly educated workers
The report draws attention to what the TUC terms a divide between training ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, with workplace training concentrated on qualified and more highly educated employees. For example:
the LFS shows that 41% of graduate employees and just 12% of unqualified employees participated in job-related training in the spring quarter of 2006;
in 2006, only 13% of employees without qualifications had recently undertaken training, an increase from 8% in 1995. Among graduate employees, 47% had recently participated in training in 2006, up from 43% in 1995.
| 1995 | 2006 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Men | Women | All | Men | Women | |
| Degree or equivalent* | 43 | 40 | 47 | 41 | 36 | 47 |
| Higher education qualification** | 42 | 39 | 46 | 41 | 34 | 46 |
| A level or equivalent*** | 26 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 27 | 34 |
| GCSE grades A to C (or equivalent)**** | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Other qualification | 18 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 25 |
| No qualification | 8 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 13 |
Notes:* and ** refer to university and college-level qualifications respectively. *** and **** are generally undertaken by 18 and 16-year olds, respectively, at upper secondary school. GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education.
Source: LFS 1995 and 2006, spring quarter
UK ranks low in international comparisons
The TUC report also uses OECD data from 2003 to show that the UK performs relatively poorly in international comparisons. For example:
UK adults with lower secondary school education – that is, qualifications below level 2, including those without qualifications – receive an average of 103 hours of job-related training over their working lives. The OECD average for adults without a level 2 qualification is 210 hours, so the UK ranks 12th out of 18 countries;
graduates receive more than four times the amount of training than those with qualifications below level 2. Using LFS data, the OECD’s league table based on training participation rates for graduates puts the UK in fifth position. However, its league table based on the lifetime training duration indicator for graduates ranks the UK as 15th out of 21 OECD countries, reflecting shorter job-related training programmes in the UK than in most other countries.
Commentary
The TUC attributes some improvement in the training of lower-skilled employees to the introduction of policy initiatives by the government (UK0612049I). However, it argues that this rate of improvement will need to accelerate if the objectives set out in the government’s response to Lord Sandy Leitch’s skills review – World class skills: Implementing the Leitch review of skills in England – are to be achieved. The TUC calls for a concerted effort by the UK government, employers, trade unions and other stakeholders to improve employees’ access to workplace training.
The TUC supports Lord Leitch’s voluntary ‘Skills pledge’, which is linked to government support to train low-skilled workers, and advocates a statutory basis to workplace training provision by 2010. Alongside its main focus on those who are low skilled, the TUC report observes the need for greater access to job-related training by UK employees with intermediate and higher skills levels. In respect of future workplace training for all employee groups, however, much will depend on the demand for skilled work in the UK economy.
Jane Parker, University of Warwick
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2007), TUC report calls for equal access to workplace training, article.
