Skills gaps affect 16% of establishments in the Active Leisure and Learning sector in England, which equates to 17,000 employees in the SkillsActive workforce with skills weaknesses.  Skill gaps exist where employers regard some of their staff as not being fully proficient to meet the requirements of the job. 

In England, the number of skill gaps exceeds the number of skill shortage vacancies reported by employers.  Skills gaps are similar to those reported for skill shortage vacancies and include: customer handling skills; communication skills; and team working skills. 

Across the UK, there is a shortage of applicants with:

• communication skills (40% of establishments with a hard to fill vacancy)
• team working skills (38%)
• customer handling skills (33%)
• technical and practical skills (28%)
• problem solving skills (27%)

The sector is forecast to grow over the next 10 years by 21%.  Forecasts do not, however, predict significant changes to the profile of the workforce, or to the occupational structure or to qualification levels: suggesting more of a shift in the numbers required.

Employers in the sector are more likely to report that hard-to-fill vacancies are caused by aspects of the job such as: poor terms and conditions; and patterns of shift work.  Recruitment difficulties can be described by the following figures:

• 19% of all establishments report vacancies
• 8% of all establishments report hard-to-fill vacancies
• 3% of all establishments report skill shortage.
• 41% of establishments with vacancies report hard-to-fill vacancies
• 35% of establishments with hard-to-fill vacancies report skills shortage vacancies

Source: Skills Needs Assessment – England 2005, SkillsActive regional fact sheets and Spilsbury Research/SkillsActive 2004 (from the National Employer Skills Survey 2004)

For further information on vacancies in the sector see: