A new report from The Industrial Society predicts that British business will face increasing pressure from the government to revise the current approach to staff training.

The report exposes what it describes as a culture of ‘learning apartheid’ where employers spend the bulk of their training budgets on their most qualified employees, with managers and graduates up to five times more likely to receive training than those without qualifications.

Entitled “Not Very Qualified” – the Industrial Society report examines the government’s forthcoming review of workforce development, with Andy Westwood, the Society’s deputy director of policy, outlining the reasons why he believes that industry scepticism about the review is unjustified.

Citing reports that show that eleven year old children can out-read one in five employees, Mr Westwood said: “This government is determined to snap firms out of their persistent low skills mindset. Under-investment and under-participation in workforce development is the primary cause of our low productivity.

“With the productivity gap high on the political agenda, employers can expect significant government intervention in workforce training in the near future.” (CL)