Page 47 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan 2019

Employer Evidence - Response Profile
County
Ceredigion Powys Pembrokeshire Carmarthenshire Swansea
Neath Port Talbot Other
Total
Challenges
Business Size Total Micro Small Medium Large
80008 14 4 0 0 18 12 2 0 0 14 10 2 0 0 12 25 9 0 0 34 71109 00011 76 18 1 1 96
47
Securing work and making a profit were reported as main challenges by 57% and 29% of respondents respectively. These were followed by economic/financial challenges (24%), training (23%) and developing staff (23%).
93% of businesses within these sectors operating in Wales are zero or micro sized enterprises. The challenges indicated above may be more detrimental and exacerbated for a micro or small sized business as they do not experience the benefit of scale as large companies do.
The fast paced nature of the sectors (especially in terms of Tech development) could increase pressure on micro and small businesses to train staff in order to keep abreast the ever-changing landscape of their in- dustry. This becomes more important when micro and small businesses may place more onus on training and developing the staff that they have rather than recruiting more with the desired skill-set as this can often be challenging and costly.
The Workforce
The majority of respondents indicated that their workforce is relatively balanced in terms of gender break- down.
Work-readiness
The majority (65%) of respondents indicated that new entrants to their workforce are work-ready. The remaining 35% reported that new entrants tend to lack the skills or the work experience that they are looking for.
Only 10% of respondents indicated that new entrants are missing the qualifications that businesses look for. Suggesting that current provision meets the needs of employers in terms of accreditation.
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales
Sector Profiles