West Midlands suffer disproportionately from a national skills shortage - report
The West Midlands is suffering disproportionately from a national skills shortage, with one in four vacancies now classed as ‘hard to fill’.
HCR Law has published a report reviewing the impact this is having on the region and how businesses can address these issues.
The report looks at apprenticeships, adult education, bespoke training and niche skills to help companies upskill their way out of the West Midlands skills shortage.
The report, produced by the firm’s Birmingham office, who deal with a wide variety of businesses – combining their knowledge of the market with years of experience in the region – finds a local impact in the West Midlands, with vacancies remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
In order for businesses to combat this, it highlights the importance of stakeholders, educators and businesses working in partnership to ensure local labour is being upskilled to meet economic demand.
It outlines the importance of investing in apprenticeships – something of particular note for SMEs who, although they are the least likely to take advantage of it, are not obliged to pay into the apprenticeship levy.
Emily Stubbs, head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: “The providers we work with do everything they can to reduce the administrative burden of apprenticeships for employers, but it does remain a challenge - particularly for small and medium sized organisations.
“We are continuing to raise this with the Department for Education as a key obstacle to increasing uptake of apprenticeships and facilitating upskilling across the region.”
Although apprenticeships are an administrative burden, the skills gap report suggests that looking to adult education may provide access to a skilled workforce.
Omer Simjee, employment partner at HCR Law said: “Down the line, with Adult Education upskilling workers and creating gaps beneath, if the business grows then the bandwidth and capital for apprenticeships becomes available.
“As a gateway to enabling a more apprenticeship-positive future, as well as an immediate upskilling opportunity for incumbent staff, adult education is a strong contender to be a solution.”
The nine steps HCR Law has outlined in its report for West Midlands businesses to upskill their way out of the West Midlands skills shortage are for businesses to:
- Complete a skills gap analysis
- Identify ‘hidden gems’ in the workforce with the ambition to do more or something different
- Prioritise the gaps which need filling
- Facilitate and reward upskilling, through mentors and secondment opportunities
- Create proper career planning, and help people get to where they want to be
- Explore funding which reduces your financial burden
- Explore technology – your skills gap might not need humans to use it
- Support your staff if you’re asking them to do more
- Review productivity: if something isn’t getting done, is there a skills gap or is there another reason it isn’t being done?
HCR Law has more than 800 staff and partners based at offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Central England, Cheltenham, Hereford, London, Thames Valley, Worcester and the Wye Valley, providing a complete spectrum of legal services to both business and private clients regionally and nationwide.
The firm has a global reach via its network of independent law firms, LawExchange International.
It also has a number of highly successful teams specialising in individual sectors, including agriculture, environment and estates, charities and not-for-profit, defence and security, education, financial services, healthcare, local government and public sector, private wealth, sports, media and entertainment and technology.
