Corin Crane, Chief Executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, felt the recently-launched West Midlands Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) - which the Chamber is leading on alongside the Greater Birmingham and Black Country Chambers of Commerce - could help businesses find a way through the crisis.
LSIPs have been designed by Government to put employers at the centre of the skills system in their region and to build a stronger, more dynamic partnership between employers and further education providers.
It will mean skills provision can be more responsive to the local labour market needs.
Corin said: “The labour market locally continues to be tight, and these latest figures reflect what we’re seeing on the ground.
“While it is pleasing to see a slight fall in vacancies, they are still at historically high levels overall and it is preventing the region’s businesses from growing effectively.
"From our conversations with businesses throughout Coventry & Warwickshire we know that vacancies going unfilled is causing a real lag on business growth. We also know that finding employees with the right skills is causing these unprecedented levels of vacancies.
“That is why we are excited about leading the Local Skills Improvement Plan to put businesses at the heart of the skills system to ensure that people have the skills that firms throughout our region are looking for."
Jane Gratton, Head of People Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Today’s figures will come as no surprise to businesses up and down the country who are desperately trying to fill record numbers of vacant roles.
“With over 1.16 million job vacancies, businesses are still experiencing a relentlessly tight labour market. If firms can’t hire the staff to fulfil their order books, any room for growth is extremely limited.
“Government is heading in the right direction with its plans to help bring economically inactive workers back into the labour force, especially older workers who left in their droves when lockdown ended.
“But we need to see more action. There must be carefully tailored careers advice, job seeker support and rapid re-training opportunities to help employers harness the skills and experience of older workers.
“Businesses also need to play their part, by engaging with local skills and employment opportunities, adopting flexible working policies where possible and helping older workers develop their skills for the changing workforce.
“Finally, Government must hear our calls to urgently reform the Shortage Occupation List to help businesses fill urgent job vacancies when they cannot recruit locally. The List should include job roles below RQF Level 3 for sectors where there is clear evidence of a national shortage.
“The UK’s tight labour market is one of the top challenges preventing our businesses and economy from growing. It’s no use simply talking about growth if we are not prepared to take action on it.
“With an anaemic economy and low productivity, Government must take immediate steps to ease the considerable labour pressures on businesses – we can’t afford to wait any longer.”
Pictured: Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce
