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management & education news

WARNING OVER ‘FAKE’ of supporting young people into the

workplace”, the report warns.
The think tank’s analysis says that
APPRENTICESHIP COURSES £235 million of the levy has been used
to support “low-skill” roles, such as bar
staff, shop checkout workers and those
in “basic office administration”.
A further £551 million has been used
by firms for management training,
with the report claiming this was
often used for experienced staff rather
than new recruits and could include
the “rebadging” of existing schemes.
The most common apprenticeship
is becoming a supervisor or team
leader, representing about a tenth of all
apprenticeships.
The report also criticises £448
million spent on apprenticeships
aimed at degree and postgraduate
level. This includes some academics
with PhDs being labelled as
MILLIONS HAVE BEEN SPENT ON apprentices in university training
APPRENTICESHIPS AIMED AT DEGREE LEVEL schemes in research and teaching.
The report’s claims were strongly
HALF OF APPRENTICESHIP COURSES fund, reports the BBC. rejected by Mark Dawe, Chief Executive
in England have been accused of being But since 2017, the report claims £1.2 of the Association of Employment and
“fake” by an education think tank. billion from the levy has been spent Learning Providers.
A report from EDSK says the on jobs “offering minimal training He said there was a need for a wide
apprenticeship levy is being used on and low wages” or on “rebadging” range of apprenticeships, including
low-skilled jobs or relabelling existing jobs already offered by employers as those at a lower level and he accused
posts, rather than training. apprenticeships. the report of using “caricatures” which
Director of the think tank Tom In its first full year of operation, had “no resemblance to the reality of
Richmond said the apprenticeship the levy raised £2.7 billion and this what is actually being learnt”.
scheme was “descending into farce”. is expected to rise to £3.4 billion by A Department for Education
The apprenticeship levy is paid by 2023-24. spokeswoman defended the value of
large employers, who contribute 0.5 per Apprenticeship spending is too often apprenticeships and said they had to
cent of their salary bill into the training used on “existing adult workers instead meet “high quality requirements”.

UK EMPLOYERS ‘PAUSE’ JOB HIRING AS DEMAND FALLS TO SEVEN-YEAR LOW

in global trade took their toll on described by the survey as a “bastion
business confidence. of positivity for many years”,
The recruitment firm’s survey of fared even worse; employer hiring
2,101 employers found the outlook confidence fell 15 percentage points
for the first quarter of 2020 was weak to -2 per cent, its lowest level in more
with hiring intentions by firms in than a decade. Wales dropped to -1
London at a 10-year low. per cent, Yorkshire and the Humber
A balance of companies, when hit -1 per cent and the North East
asked whether they intended to hire declined to -4 per cent.
additional workers or reduce the Official surveys have found that
HIRING INTENTIONS size of their workforce in the coming hiring has stalled and wage growth
BY LONDON FIRMS AT
A 10-YEAR LOW quarter, registered +2 per cent, the has begun to decline as firms said
lowest figure since 2012. they were preparing for the threat of
EMPLOYERS IN BRITAIN have “hit the London, which has among the largest a no-deal Brexit and a slowdown in
pause button” on job hiring, according number of employers and usually offsets trade amid the US-China dispute over
to a survey of the labour market poor figures from the UK’s regions, was import tariffs.
showing demand for new workers has among the worst affected after hiring The Office for National Statistics
tumbled to a seven-year low. intentions dropped five percentage said in a report covering the
ManpowerGroup said years of points from the fourth quarter to -1 for three months to September that
strong jobs growth had ended in 2019 the first three months of 2020. employment had fallen by 58,000 –
as Brexit uncertainty and a slowdown However, the East Midlands, the biggest drop since May 2015.

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