Speaking at an event yesterday, its chief economist John Philpot also said that the UK’s poor productivity was the “Achilles heel” of the economy and that the employability of young workers is a big contributing factor to the current skills crisis.
“There are critical problems in the supply of labour from schools and colleges, and it’s down to overall employability – the lack of soft skills,” he said. “Employability levels are not increasing at anything like the rate of increases in qualifications.”
Also speaking at the ACAS and CIPD Building Successful Workplaces event was Dame Carol Black, national director for health and work, who suggested employers and doctors should be working towards electronic ‘fit’ notes, instead of sick notes. She also said that union representatives should have a health and wellbeing role within organisations, on top of their current safety role.
