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Lots of attention (rightly) focused on qual. results and uni. admissions this week but we shouldn't forget about how this crisis also hits adult workers - who may soon need help to move back into work or change the sector they work in. Hence today's @resfoundation report. 1/12
Britain is on the verge of an employment crisis, with labour-intensive and lower-paid sectors hardest hit. The Gov't will need to consider adult education and retraining policies to help some workless adults move back into work & help other adults move to different sectors. 2/12
Unfortunately, the UK is not in the best position to meet the challenge: adult education participation has fallen by more than 20 per cent in recent years; it also disproportionately benefits those who already have higher-level qualifications. 3/12
And yet, it can make a substantial difference: our research, uses data from Understanding Society to understand the link between training and various career changes. 4/12
We find that, absent any education or training, we’d expect 53% of recently out-of-work adults to return to work w/in 2 years of having moved out of work. By contrast, we’d expect 68 per cent of those who reported any form of education or training to have done the same. 5/12
What’s more, the relationship between training and job re-entry appears strongest for those most likely to have been affected (so far) by the crisis: non-graduates. 6/12
But beyond returning to work, lots of adults will want – or need – to change the sector that they work in. Only a handful of adults tend to achieve this, and even smaller share still manage to change industry while attaining a pay boost. 7/12
And while there’s a statistically significant association between different types of training and making a positive industry change – the effects appear somewhat small. Full-time education is, however, a clear exception. 8/12
However, the relationship between training, education and making a positive career change does appear to be largest for non-graduates – in particular older non-graduate women and men. 9/12
So what to do? Finding a job won’t be easy in recession, not least with labour-intensive sectors so badly hit. However, gov't should recognise the big role that training can play in helping lower-qualified workers re-enter work, particularly when linked to qualifications. 10/12
Helping adults change careers is, of course, more challenging. Alongside efforts to reduce barriers to adult ed & careers advice, gov’t should consider adopting more sector-focused job creation initiatives that have training built into them. 11/12
For instance, we have previously called for investment in social care and ‘green jobs’ like home retrofitting. There’s no panacea – to help workers policy will need to fire on multiple fronts. Time to get going. 12/12 https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/can-training-help-workers-change-their-stripes/
