Unions help bridge skills gap

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the TUC have launched a new booklet to help employers and unions tackle skills gaps in industry.

Training the easy way aims to foster a greater understanding between unions and employers about the benefits of improving the vocational and essential business skills of employees through Employer Training Pilots (ETPs).

ETPs aim to tackle some of the barriers to training, such as cost and employee absence, by matching training to the vocational needs of the individual with the productivity and performance needs of the business. Employers are usually compensated for all or some of the cost of releasing employees during work hours. The £170 million pilots were jointly developed by the LSC, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Treasury and have been underway in England since last year.

Unions have told the TUC that involvement in the pilots has meant they are able to reach out to non-members at work and recruit new union members as a result.

Unions involved in the initial six pilots have also received excellent feedback from both employers and employees.

Training the easy way is available from the Learning and Skills Council website: www.lsc.gov.uk