Skills fund scarcity

The government’s mounting uncertainty over skills funding could place the competitiveness of UK manufacturers at risk, warned manufacturers' organisation, EEF.

According to the group, companies planning for the economic upturn were beginning to make plans for future employee training.

However, it claimed that a lack of policy regarding next year’s training schemes would prevent many from committing to skills programmes, including apprenticeships, beyond the end of this year.

Lee Hopley, head of economic policy at the EEF, said: ‘Potentially there will be a skills shortage when the upturn comes.

'Manufacturers have been doing their best to hang on to skilled workers during this recession.

'The ability of these companies to do that over the next six months, in what is likely to be pretty difficult economic conditions, is going to be key to the extent of the skills shortage further out.’

In an EEF survey of around 700 companies, 55 per cent of manufacturers said they were concerned about their ability to attract and retain skilled staff in preparation for the recovery.