Futureskills Scotland publish Work Skills in Scotland report

Futureskills Scotland today published the latest report in its research series. Work Skills in Scotland: The Workers View is a summary of research undertaken by Professor Alan Felstead and Professor Francis Green.

The research uses results from the Work Skills in Britain Survey. This is a UK-wide survey which gathers workers' views on the skills they use at work. It provides evidence on the skills and qualifications required to get and do jobs, the use of computing and other generic skills, the extent of job autonomy given to employees and workers' experiences and attitudes towards training and learning at work.

The Work Skills in Britain Survey evidence highlights Scotland's success in increasing the proportion of its workforce which is highly-qualified. The demand for highly-skilled and highly-qualified workers in Scotland has also been rising. However, this is not at as fast a pace as the supply of such workers.

The polarisation of jobs also remains an issue. Many jobs in Scotland require highly qualified workers. At the same time, a large proportion of jobs require no qualifications on entry. Analysis of the length of training times for jobs and the time taken to learn to do jobs well shows a similar polarisation.

Most Scottish workers receive training, often initiated by their employer. Such workers see the benefits of this training in keeping up-to-date and improving the way they work. However, about one-third of workers do not receive training - this seems to be because their jobs do not require it.

The Work Skills in Britain Survey is a rich source of information on the skills used in the workplace. Futureskills Scotland has commissioned a series of reports to look in more detail at some of the findings from the Survey. The reports commissioned include detailed research into:

• the extent, determinants and consequences of differences in the qualifications required to get and do jobs; and
• the effect of employment composition on the utilisation of skills in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

These reports will be published throughout 2008.

Works Skills in Scotland