Britain faces manufacturing skills crisis as new data suggests industry losing BILLIONS in productivity

Britain’s manufacturing leaders say they are facing the toughest skills picture yet, with data suggesting the talent gap in the sector is costing more than £7billion in lost productivity.

The latest annual Training Barometer released by In-Comm Training has found nearly three-quarters of businesses feel there was a lack of Government support to address skills shortages following the Budget last year.

Some 21 per cent of the current workforce are aged 55 or over and the number of new apprenticeships in the sector is down 23 per cent since 2019.

Data from Make UK suggests the talent gap is costing £7.1billion a year in lost productivity.

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Jai Purewal is the Operations Director at Frederick Cooper, who provide wet paint spraying and powder coatings for the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley, JLR and others.

They’ve invested more than £400,000 into developing their own Learning Academy.

Mr Purewal told GB News: “Running a manufacturing business is not without its challenges. Cost pressures, certainly challenging economic forecasts, confidence and certainly skills gaps are some of the factors affecting our everyday.

“We're all competing in the same talent pool, so we've had to develop programs through our academy that put feelers out into the community and create pathways to go and find the young people and then get them on the conveyor belts, load them up with the skills, and they go on and prove successful in the business.”

Kian Soloman is one of their apprentices who’s embedded himself in the production team.

He said: “First and foremost, I think it's boosted my confidence a lot.

“It's helped me converse with people older than me, people younger than me and guide them.

“I feel like it's put me in a position where I can broaden my horizons and see different avenues for me.”

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Last year, the Government published its Industrial Strategy with plans for the state to take more of a role in supporting businesses, including reducing electricity costs and planning delays, and providing access to finance and skills.

Yesterday, the Government announced further measures, offering businesses that take on jobless youngsters thousands of pounds in new youth employment support.

From today, businesses can access the new Youth Jobs Grant, which will pay £3,000 for every eligible young person they hire.

However, as found in the latest industry survey by In-Comm Training, only a third of manufacturers believe the Industrial Strategy will support their development, and less than half are planning to take on an apprentice.

In-Comm's Managing Director, Gareth Jones, told GB News the cost to take on a skilled versus an unskilled employee is getting smaller.

He said: “How do we inspire the next generation? How do we give them access to the opportunities that are available?

“Industry, as we know, is continually being squeezed to take on an unskilled apprenticeship right now, and we [In-Comm] have full-time courses for the first 12 months, but the cost to take on an unskilled employee versus a skilled employee, that gap is ever much becoming smaller.

“It's a bigger risk to take an apprentice on.”

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