Highlights of the survey, if these rather gloomy statistics can be called that, include the fact that 23 per cent of IoD member organisations have vacancies that are proving hard to fill due to a lack of skilled applicants. Among the most difficult skills to source are technical, management and leadership and customer service skills.
A total of 47 per cent of directors surveyed said some of their employees lacked the skills needed to do their job to the required level, with management and leadership skills in particular need of improvement.
Most worryingly, 58 per cent of employers said skills gaps were holding back the growth of their firms, with increased workloads for other employees the most common problem.
As we have frequently heard, the government is looking to private enterprise to create the jobs that will be lost in the public sector over the coming months so the fact that skills gaps are creating such a significant brake on growth is particularly disturbing.
The IoD says that businesses are continuing to invest in training, despite the recession, and that the government needs to tackle the issues of excessive employment regulation and an uncompetitive tax system to release additional resources for private sector staff development.
With the government’s Growth Review currently exploring ways to break down the barriers that hold back private sector growth, the skills gap looks as though it should be close to the front of the queue when it comes to action.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3.1 / 722 )When the government announced plans in the summer to scrap the default retirement age (DRA), which allows employers to make workers retire at 65, the proposals drew a mixed reaction.
Age campaign group the Employers Forum on Age, welcomed the move, saying that employers had nothing to fear from the change, which would help make the most of an “age diverse workforce.”
But John Cridland, then deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), warned that the timetable for scrapping the DRA would give businesses little time to prepare.
Fast-forward a few months and today Mr Cridland, now the CBI’s director-general designate, is speaking out again.
Today he says that businesses value the skills, experience and loyalty that older workers bring while that a more active older population and pension shortfalls make it clear that people will want to keep working longer.
But – and it’s a big but – with just over three months to go before the DRA is axed in April, the government has so far failed to produce any guidance or draft regulations to clarify for employers or staff what the new legislative framework will look like.
Mr Cridland warns that “a legislative void is opening up” and calls for any changes to be delayed until April 2012 to address employers’ concerns, including a greater risk of tribunal claims. Meanwhile, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills says it will be publishing guidance shortly.
Few of us would disagree with the department’s view that people should not be prevented from working because they have reached a particular age.
At the same time, we probably also feel more than a little sympathy for the businesses who will be at the sharp end of implementing a pretty significant change in employment law – and with time ticking away until April, are probably wondering just how well prepared they are going to be able to be do just that.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 705 )Long-awaited changes to the rules surrounding pensions have been announced, notably the end of the requirement forcing people to be an annuity by age 75.
Individuals will instead be able to leave their pension plans invested and draw down cash as they see fit. This may allow individuals to wait or seek alternatives if annuity rates are poor at the time, and removes the risk of effectively ‘losing’ the whole pension pot if the holder dies shortly after taking out an annuity.
However, not everyone will benefit from the changes. The ‘minimum income requirement’ is designed to ensure people do not spend all their pension savings and then fall back on the state for support. Only those who have an income of at least £20,000 per year from elsewhere will have complete freedom to cash in their pension savings; anyone else will only be able to withdraw what they would have got from an annuity.
Similarly, while the changes introduce the option of passing on a pension pot on the death of the holder, this should not be seen as a tax mitigation strategy, as a 55 per cent tax rate will be charged on any such payment. Nonetheless, that is more than would have been passed on if an annuity was used.
While this extra flexibility will be welcomed by those who can take advantage of it, many pension holders will not notice any difference, and it may be that further reforms will be necessary down the line to improve the system for those who do not have multiple income streams.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 680 )As the controversy over student tuition fees rises to fever pitch today, with MPs preparing to vote this afternoon on plans that could almost treble charges in some cases, the CBI has introduced a new angle to the debate.
Richard Lambert, its director-general, has written to CBI members, saying that if the proposals go through, businesses will have an important role to play in working with young people to help them decide their career paths.
He says the sector will need to help them “to choose the right subjects to study, to offer relevant work experience, and where appropriate to work with universities to develop courses that will provide attractive employment for graduates”.
Mr Lambert also cites some innovative examples of where this is already happening. The University of Birmingham, for instance, has teamed up with BP on a new degree course in mechanical engineering.
And McDonald’s recently launched a two-year foundation degree course in Managing Business Operations, accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University.
Mr Lambert says in future, employers looking for a particular set of skills may find it makes sense to work more closely with institutions that can develop the right courses, helping to shape the course choices that students make.
He also suggests that businesses could be more proactive in engaging with students – their potential future employees – through measures that could include bursaries or other forms of sponsorship or offering relevant work experience, including sandwich courses.
For many young people and their families out there, wondering just what their options will be should the new tuition fee regime go through, there may be a big, black cloud hanging over their university aspirations. But perhaps the CBI’s proposals could offer just the hint of a silver lining to that cloud.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 646 )With four weeks to go until the VAT jumps 2.5 per cent to 20 per cent, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has made an interesting connection between VAT and job creation.
According to a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research commissioned by the FSB, raising the VAT registration threshold from its current level of £70,000 to £90,000 could save small businesses up to £162 million a year by cutting the red tape around VAT compliance, together with another £700 million in VAT bills.
Those extra millions could be used to create up to 35,000 jobs on an average wage, says the FSB, creating income tax revenue that – taken with the extra cash generated by the 4 January VAT rise to 20 per cent – would more than compensate for any loss in VAT receipts to the government from raising the registration threshold.
John Walker, FSB chairman, says that small firms will be hardest hit by the January VAT rise because they’re less likely to be able to absorb the increase, meaning that they have to pass it on to customers, cut stock levels or find savings elsewhere.
He says: "If the Government is truly committed to a private-sector led recovery, then it must implement a Small Business Programme for Growth to allow small firms to grow and invest – and this would be a great start.”
Chancellor George Osborne will already have his thinking cap on in terms of the content of the Budget he’ll be delivering on 23 March. The FSB, and millions of small businesses up and down the country, will no doubt be hoping that its VAT plea won’t be falling on deaf ears.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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