Staff Investment and Expansion Indicated In Tipperary

SMEs are showing improved signs of staff investment and expansion. That’s the message from Skillnets – the national agency responsible for funding and supporting training networks – as it launched its Annual Report for 2014 today.

Figures from the report reveal that in Tipperary approximately 645 local companies took part in training programmes with 1911 trainees availing of 9,318 training days.

Across the country, 86% of the companies that benefited from a €24.9m investment in training and development in 2014 were SMEs. Over 291,000 training days were delivered during 2014 through 5,537 training courses. This resulted in the up-skilling of over 46,000 employees across 10,879 companies, demonstrating a strong focus on business development among SMEs.

SME Sector Training

According to Skillnets Chairman, Brendan McGinty, increased investment in the up-skilling of staff has been a strong feature of the economy’s recovery in recent months. “We’re beginning to see companies come out of a fire-fighting period where their main focus was on maintaining operations. SMEs are recognising the importance of developing and building capacity within business. Investing in existing staff by upgrading their skills and proficiency is vital to enable them to adapt to developing market trends. This investment can help to protect against skills-shortages and risks around sustainability for their business.

“During 2014, member companies invested €11.1m towards programmes, with Skillnets investing a further €13.8m, totaling €24.9m investment in training and development. Skillnets-supported training means that employers can access high-quality and sector-specific training with affordable financial investment.”

Skillnets CEO, Alan Nuzum further added that, “new links across individual businesses, potential employees and statutory agencies are opening new pipelines for skills and labour force needs in emerging and growth sectors across the economy. Through these collaborations, Skillnets is delivering real business benefits by matching emerging skills needs with bespoke training and industry placement.

“Addressing these current skill needs and predicting future skills requirements are critical for protecting against risks to the sustainability of business activities and achieving profitability and growth.   A total of 97% of companies surveyed recently by independent consultants Frontline reported that Skillnets training met their objective of tackling skills shortages or gaps.”

In addition, Skillnets ManagementWorks programme, offering management development training courses and mentoring specifically designed to support the SME sector, continued to engage businesses and delivered 13,292 training days to 994 business owners and managers during 2014. A recent independent evaluation indicated that nearly one in four (24%) of SMEs that participated in ManagementWorks training in 2014 had gone on to recruit additional staff. Over 90% of those surveyed reported that involvement with ManagementWorks had increased their competitiveness, with close to half (42%) reporting that it had led to increased sales.

Job-seekers

While Skillnets core remit during 2014 was focused on the provision of training to individuals who are in employment, Skillnets also provided valuable supports to 6,858 job-seekers who undertook 58,686 training days in 2014. Fifty percent of these trainees were long-term unemployed and 2,795 job-seekers undertook Skillnets’ Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP), which facilitates participation in industry training along with focused work placement programmes. An independent evaluation (undertaken by Frontline) of the Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP) showed that over 45% of job-seekers who completed the programme in 2014 got a job afterwards or had started their own business.

Other highlights:

Skillnets operates through four main programmes: Training Networks Programme (TNP); Finuas Networks Programme; ManagementWorks; and Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP). The training schemes focus on transferability of skills; fostering company diversification or transferability within a sector or to another sector; facilitating increased performance and growth in priority sectors; and enhancing the general competency skills of lifelong learners. The programmes are accessed through 62 networks of companies, which are organised according to sector / geographical location.

The Training Network Programme (TNP) is the biggest programme operated by Skillnets, and accounted for 202,833 of the total training days delivered in 2014. The following are among some of the characteristics of the companies / trainees who participated in TNP Skillnets-supported training in 2014:

Sector: 29% of the companies who participated in Skillnets training were from the services sector. Agri-food comprises 26% of participating companies, while areas such as hospitality, business and media ranked under 5%.

Type of training: Training in technical skills comprised 33% of all training delivered, followed by sales and marketing training (22%) and business and finance (17%).

Education level: Prior to taking training, 26% of trainees were at National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) Level 8, followed by 17% at Level 6. 32% of trainees were in the range of Levels 1 – 5.