A recently published Government review predicts that 95%of jobs will require Level 2 skills by 2020, this is the equivalent to five GCSE grades A*-C.  However, average skill levels throughout the UK are currently much lower than this.  In Sheffield 63% of 19 year olds are qualified to Level 2.

 

Sheffield First Partnership launched the Work and Skills Board in March 2007 to improve the level of skills and ensure Sheffield does not face a future skills shortage.

 

Over the past year a series of initiatives have been developed to reduce the number of people on out-of-work benefits and increase skills levels in the city.

 

One of the developments is the Skills Passport – a series of bite-size and intensive courses depending on the level of the individual. 

 

To develop the Skills Passport the Sheffield First Work and Skills Board gathered together a group of senior HR figures from major local employers.  The Innovation Group includes representatives from organisations such as John Lewis, Cadbury Trebor Bassett and the NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust.

 

The Innovation Group has worked with the Partnership to develop a new qualification where employers have set out their minimum standards for employment.

 

The Skills Passport will give job seekers a tangible folder of evidence, approved by major credible employers in the city, to take to interviews to show that they have taken the necessary courses and are now skilled ready for work.

 

The courses include communications skills, interview training, customer service and sessions to improve assertiveness and confidence.

 

The Skills Passport has already been trialled in the retail sector where retailers Next and Primark were involved in getting 35 people into work from Burngreave.  Following this successful trial the Skills Passport will be rolled out in other areas.

 

More recently the Innovation Group has turned its attention to the post employment skills agenda. The Group has been instrumental in influencing the South Yorkshire Train to Gain action plan, which is a service from the Learning and Skills Council offering free training and wage compensation designed to help businesses give staff the training they need.

 

This post employment skills agenda ensures that people are not forgotten about when they have found employment but that they can sustain their job and continue to improve and build on their skills.