But the Future Skills Wales 2005 survey also showed that an estimated 64,000 Welsh workers lack the skills to do their current jobs properly.
These ‘skill gaps’ occurred most frequently in manufacturing, retailing, finance, health and education, and were far more likely to affect larger rather than smaller firms.
The skills most lacking ranged from problem solving, team working and customer handling skills to technical job skills, IT and management competence.
Future Skills Wales 2005, the third survey of its kind since 1998, covered more than 6,700 employers and is designed to provide wide-ranging and reliable information on skills deficiencies being experienced by Welsh businesses.
The new data is intended to help strategic planners such as the Assembly Government, ELWa and the WDA and to support the employer-led Sector Skills Councils in matching the supply and demand of skilled workers for their individual industries. In addition it aims to help learning providers to design and deliver the courses most needed in the different parts of Wales.
The good news from the latest survey is that the number of employers finding difficulty filling vacancies has dropped in the past two years from 14% to 10%.
Just over 50% of the ‘hard-to-fill’ vacancies were concentrated among employers with less than 10 staff, even though such firms only account for 19% of overall employment.
The type of jobs that were reported as being hardest to fill were skilled trades such as automotive engineers, electricians and bricklayers, and associate professionals such as nurses or creative staff.
While the percentage of bosses who had experienced hard-to-fill vacancies dropped significantly since the last survey, the proportion complaining their existing staff didn’t have sufficient skills remained at the same level as it has for the past two surveys.
Nearly one in five employers reported such “skill gaps” and the number of workers with these shortcomings was estimated to be around 64,000 or six per cent of the whole Welsh workforce. Larger firms were more likely to experience such problems.
Despite this, there was evidence in the report that the majority of employers are trying to tackle the problem. Around 58% of them provided off-the-job training to staff, an increase on the last survey in 2003.
The figures released this week represent the first wave of new research designed to provide an in-depth examination of how Wales’ labour market is working.
Further reports due in the New Year, will probe the skill problems faced by individual industry sectors in Wales.
Said Bob Waller, Acting Chairman of the Future Skills Wales Partnership: “It’s pleasing to see some improvements since the last survey but some figures remain stubbornly high. We’re hoping that by using this data to build closer working relationships with the Sector Skills Councils and learning providers we can make serious progress in tackling this long-standing issue.”
Full details of the survey results are available on www.futureskillswales.com
Further information from Eoghan Mortell 029 2048 8778 or 07977 555 116
