Employer Perspectives Survey, 2007

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Employer Perspectives Survey (EPS) is a large scale survey of UK employers across all sectors of the economy and is part of a series of studies historically commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to provide robust and reliable labour market information. Following the closure of the UKCES ownership of the survey transferred to the Department for Education (DfE) in late 2016. The survey provides a UK-wide picture of how employers are meeting their skills needs, looking both at their engagement with skills and employment services and broader approaches to people development. The Employer Perspectives Survey is a key customer insight tool for colleges, universities, schools and other providers looking to understand how employers view and engage with the skills system. The Employer Perspectives Survey is intended to complement the Employer Skills Survey series, which focuses on employer skills demand, skills shortages and training within organisations; the two surveys run in alternate years. The Employer Perspectives Survey, 2007 covered 13,500 employing business establishments across the UK. It provides evidence on a range of issues of importance to the UK Commission on Employment and Skills (UKCES), including: the skills challenges employers face; how they respond to these issues through training practices; their use of and attitudes towards vocational qualifications (VQs); and the organisational practices they adopt which can help them absorb skills and training and how they view Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), which form a key part of the demand-led skills systems. The survey report provides analysis exploring the respondent businesses' experiences and perceptions of key aspects of the skills system across the UK. The survey was conducted between December 2007 and February 2008, before the economic downturn began to bite in the UK. It is important to view the results of the survey in this context. Further information about the 2007 survey is available from the archived UKCES Skills for the Workplace: Employer Perspectives webpage. Main Topics:The 2007 survey covered: skill challenges experienced by employers; training practices; wider high performance working practices; perceptions of vocational qualifications (included for the first time in this survey to provide data for the evaluation of the UK Vocational Qualification Reform Programme); perceptions of Sector Skills Councils