Skill-shortage vacancies increase by 43% 


A buoyant labour market meant skill-shortage vacancies presented a growing challenge for employers in filling their vacancies, according to the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey (ESS) for 2015.


ESS is the definitive source of intelligence on the skills challenges employers across the UK are facing and their response in terms of investment in skills and training.


Around one in 17 (6%) of all employers had at least one skill- shortage vacancy at the time of the 2015 survey— a significant increase from the one in 25 (4%) of employers that reported having such vacancies in 2013. 


In volume terms, there were 209,500 reported skill-shortage vacancies — a 43% increase on the 146,000 reported in 2013.


The vast majority of employers - almost nine out of 10 (86%) — reported that they had a fully proficient workforce. However, 14% of employers reported skills gaps within their establishment, with approximately 1.4 million staff lacking proficiency in their current role (5% of the UK workforce).


At an occupational level, skills gaps continued to be more prevalent in what are traditionally described as unskilled or semi-skilled occupations, with a notable increase from 2013 in the proportion of machine operatives not being fully proficient in their job role.


https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525444/UKCESS_2015_Report_for_web__May_.pdf