Small firms in England are being held back by poor vocational skill provision in schools, challenges in accessing apprenticeships, and inadequate incentives to retrain and upskill, according to this latest FSB research.
The report finds that the vast majority (78%) of small firms are currently struggling to recruit the right people, with eight in ten (82%) of those firms flagging a lack of relevant qualifications, skills and experience among candidates – the majority (60%) also say a lack of applicants is an issue.
More positively, five in six small employers (83%) provided training for themselves and/or their staff in the previous twelve months, with seven days of training and development per staff member on average.
Though critical to future sustainable growth, only a quarter (26%) of small employers say they have undertaken leadership and management training over the same period.
Self-employed people, meanwhile, are being held back from realising their business’s full potential by a lack of encouragement to get them to learn skills which are outside their core operations but which are nonetheless vital for growth. Four in five sole traders (80%) have no training plan, budget or relationship with a training provider, while two in five (40%) have not completed any training or professional development over the past year.