Skills in Rural Scotland 2004

This report presents the results of the Employers Skill Survey 2004 for Rural Scotland and gives an overview of the main skill-related issues facing employers.  A total of 2,100 employers took part in the survey which considered topics such as training, skill gaps, skill shortages and hard-to-fill vacancies.

Labour market conditions in Rural Scotland have been relatively stable over the last two to three years. The number of people unemployed has fallen, whilst the number of employees in employment has remained steady.

Levels of recruitment and labour turnover in the 12 months prior to the 2004 survey were similar to levels in 2003, but higher than those recorded in 2002.  The vacancy rate (the number of vacancies as a percentage of employees) in 2004 was lower than in 2003, but higher than recorded in 2002.

Less than half of all vacancies were considered hard-to-fill by employers which indicating that the jobs market operates effectively to fill the majority job vacancies.  Of those vacancies that were hard to fill, only 32 per cent were hard to fill due to a shortage of necessary skills. Skill shortages represent a very small proportion (less than 1 per cent) of total employee numbers.  Where other vacancies are hard-to-fill, it appears this is more related to the characteristics of the job on offer rather than the skills on the applicants, e.g. location of job, low wages, poor terms and conditions etc.

Around one in five workplaces reported a skill gap (where employees do not possess the skills necessary for their post.  These arise mainly, though not exclusively through weaknesses in the softer skills such as organisational and planning skills, customer handling and problem solving); this affected around 9 per cent of employees, a figure that is comparable to earlier surveys.  These skill gaps disproportionately affect posts which require lower levels of skills or qualifications; the sectors affected most by skill gaps are the hotel and restaurant and parts of the public sector.

Turning to training, the majority of Scottish employers had funded or arranged training for staff in the 12 months prior to the survey, while 36 per cent of all employees in Scotland received some form of off-the-job training - slightly down on 2002 and 2003 levels - with the public administration and education, health and social work and financial intermediation and real estate sectors most likely to offer training to staff.

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