Written by DSIT
The new government has already begun to make significant plans in the skills space. The Department for Education (DfE) is leading on the development of ambitious new programmes, with DSIT serving as a partner to help identify and feed in the needs of priority technology sectors. In order to meaningfully influence the development of new (government skill) provision such as Skills England, we as DSIT Future Telecoms team need a clear understanding of how telecom organisations currently use the skills system, such as apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and other training models and programmes.
We are aware that there are benefits and drawbacks of the different programmes and would like to understand the specific barriers you face in effectively utilising things like apprenticeships to recruit, upskill and reskill staff. This will help us to ensure the needs of the sector are considered by the Department of Education and wider government in the development of our new skills policy as to support the overall maintenance and growth of the telecom workforce.
We invite interested UKTIN users therefore to engage in a 1-2-1 discussion to share their thoughts and insights on the following topics:
Use of Skills System
What qualification routes do you usually recruit from?
- Do you regularly recruit through apprenticeships?
- Do you recruit graduates from specific university degrees?
- Are there specific government skills programs, other than apprenticeships, that you use for recruitment?
- Is there a skill programme you would like to use for recruitment however currently face barriers in accessing/using it effectively?
Do you use public training programmes to upskill or reskill your existing staff?
- Do you utilise apprenticeships to upskill your existing staff?
- Do you use any other government skills programme to upskill or reskill existing staff?
- Do you use any other specific training programmes to upskill or reskill existing staff?
- Please list them and indicate if they are you used for upskilling, reskilling or both?
Interacting with Government on addressing skills / training / education issues:
- How do you currently provide feedback to government regarding skill provision?
- What is your preferred method for providing feedback to government on skill provision?
- Would you be interested in working with us in the future to advocate for the telecom sectors skill needs in the development and delivery of government skill provision?
International Recruitment
- Do you recruit predominantly within the UK’s job market or internationally? What is the ration of domestic recruits v international recruits?
- Do you encounter any challenges recruiting internationally?
- Which changes in the UK’s visa and immigration regime would most alleviate/reduce pressures you are facing in finding the right recruits for your organisation?
To share your views, email Thea.BishopOConnor@dsit.gov.uk
