Report reveals Manchester’s employers need better support to invest in skills and boost low productivity levels

28.07.2022 - 16:33 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Senior business leaders are calling for more measures to tackle Manchester’s low productivity levels and boost employer investment in skills.

The CIPD’s new ‘Skills policy in the North: recommendations for levelling up’ highlights the need for a fundamental re-think of skills policy, after bringing together perspectives from regional policymakers, employer representative bodies, further education providers and northern employers.

The report emphasises that the region’s low productivity levels are, in part, due to inadequate leadership and people management capability in too many firms, and consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

While the North has a higher concentration of low-skilled adults (NVQ 2 and below) compared to the national average, research in the report reveals the region – including Manchester - also has a higher amount of low-wage work, skills gaps and poor utilisation of people’s skills in the workplace.

This demonstrates that more needs to be done to improve the skills and qualifications of the region’s workforce to tackle the longstanding productivity disparities, and consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

In response, the new CIPD report recommends a range of measures to boost employer investment in training, ensure people’s skills are better matched to local jobs and used more effectively in the workplace.

Recommendations include:

Increase employer understanding of the benefits of engaging with vocational education and training, and improve their capability to do so. CIPD research found that four in ten northern employers do not have any links with local colleges (rising to almost 60% of SMEs).

Strengthen regional partnerships, local referral networks, and improve