March 2024 HR News Roundup

Welcome to our March roundup of the latest HR news. There’s a clear theme to this month’s stories, and that is skills. A hot topic of conversation in the lead up to the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, there was widespread disappointment in HR circles when no new funding for skills development was announced. Businesses have been calling on the government to invest in support for training to help tackle skills development and hard-to-fill vacancies for a long while.

In February 2024, there were 1.8m active job postings in the UK – around the number of people who live in Northern Ireland - and ONS data showed that in the same month, 21% of employers were struggling to fill vacancies. Skills shortages continue to be a huge challenge for HR and recruitment teams.

Following the Budget, Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy at the CIPD, expressed disappointment that there were no significant changes to tackle apprenticeship opportunities or skills shortages. So, for this issue of Roundup we’ve collated a mix of skills based news stories covering topics including upskilling, volunteering, recruitment and grant funding. Grab a cuppa and settle down for an insightful, skilful read!

Employees need new or better skills
Aon carried out a skills themed poll of 200 HR professionals across a range of sectors. 27% of respondents said that 30-40% of their employees require upskilling or re-skilling and one quarter claimed the figure was more than 40% of employees. Business Consultancy Grant Thornton suggests the areas in which organisations are facing the highest skills shortages are in operational, financial and managerial roles.

Most colleagues require a mix of soft, people skills and practical, technical skills to carry out their roles effectively. Would the proportion of employees needing upskilling or re-skilling in your organisation be more or less than 40%? A skills needs analysis may help to evaluate where training or upskilling is needed.

Could the skills you are searching for be hidden in plain sight?
The Skills Crisis Countdown report by Spotted Zebra & People Scout suggests that organisations are “sleepwalking into a deepening skills crisis” and need to look beyond manager feedback to fully understand the skills gap.

Key findings reveal that 80% of HR leaders say their top workforce challenge is recruiting skilled talent, yet only 48% of employees feel that their employer understands their skills well and 56% feel their skills are underutilised. Does the solution to the problem lie within?

Authors of the report summarise that employers must consider using skills assessment tools and not overlook behavioural, adjacent, and transferable skills in their search for talent.

AI training grants available for professional services SMEs
When it comes to addressing the skills shortage, the topic of AI frequently comes up in conversation. In a bid to encourage businesses to invest in AI skills development, the government has announced a new pilot funding scheme. Access to the grant funding is limited to professional business services SMEs with up to 249 employees. Businesses can apply for up to 50% of the cost of AI skills training with up to £6.4million of funds to be made available in the 2024-24 financial year.

The full eligibility criteria will be released when the funding competition opens on 1 May, so if you’re interested in applying you’ll need to watch this space!

Recruitment based on skills, not CVs
A survey of 900 employers by AI recruitment platform HireVue suggests that employers place a higher value on skills than experience when it comes to recruiting new employees. The research found that 72% of hiring professionals focus on skills assessments to evaluate whether a candidate is qualified for a role.

Analysts suggest the move towards focusing on skills is helping employers to streamline their recruitment process, especially in the face of skills shortages, and may also help overcome unconscious bias and meet their DEI goals.

1 in 3 employers to hire contractors in 2024
A cost-effective solution to bridging the skills gap is to hire contractors or consultants. Many employers have already turned to contracting as a short-term flexible solution to bolster their workforce and source the specific skills they require for projects. Research by recruitment firm Robert Walters UK found that 32% of employers are planning to take on contract workers this year. While skills shortages are the main driver behind this trend, experts suggest the upcoming IR35 offset rule, due to come into force in April 2024, also has a role to play.

Major productivity boost from employee volunteering
Volunteering is a rewarding way for colleagues to use and develop their skills through supporting local community projects and charitable activities. The Royal Voluntary Service commissioned a report to explore the effects of volunteering and its findings made for interesting reading - those in professional and managerial roles had an estimated annual productivity gain of at least £4,551 per volunteer.

The report also highlights the positive impact of volunteering on job seekers’ skills and productivity, including how it boosts skills, confidence and wellbeing and prepares people to find work.

And finally...

If your own skills could do with a much-needed boost in 2024, take a look at the top UK HR events and conferences to attend in 2024. Great Place to Work have collated this super useful list to ensure we don’t miss out on valuable development opportunities throughout the year. Highlights coming up this Spring and Summer include the Employee Engagement Summit and the HR Leadership Summit (both in May), and the CIPD Festival of Work in June. These are on our team’s list to attend and we hope to see you there!