Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. 

The Employer Skills Survey 2019 (ESS 2019) gathered labour market intelligence (LMI) on employer skills needs and training activity among employers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It is the fifth in the biennial series of Employer Skills Surveys dating back to 2011 collecting LMI from multiple countries of the UK, although unlike the four earlier studies ESS 2019 does not include employers in Scotland.From 2010-2017, the Employer Skills Survey sat alongside the Employer Perspectives Survey (EPS) to produce insights that complemented each other, with the two surveys run in alternate years (EPS was last conducted UK-wide in 2016 - see SN 8338). The focus of the EPS was primarily outward-looking, covering provision of and engagement with the wider skills system, whereas the ESS had a more inward-looking focus assessing the current skills position and skill needs of employers. For ESS 2019, the two surveys were in effect merged. This involved adding many of the questions used in the EPS series to those of the ESS series. To avoid an excessively long questionnaire the merger of the survey involved more extensive modularisation of the questionnaire than used previously. This is discussed in the questionnaire chapter of the Technical Report.As in previous years, the 2019 ESS had two main elements:The core survey: covering such topics as recruitment, skills gaps, training and workforce development, upskilling needs, vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and traineeships.The Investment in Training follow-up survey: covering the investment establishments make in training their staff.The study consists of a) 81,013 telephone interviews with employers at the local establishment level; and b) 10,225 follow-up interviews with employers to capture data on Investment in Training. The study captures detailed and comprehensive information from employers on: their skills needs both from the external labour market and their existing staff; their activities to develop skills among existing employees; and their working practices.Further information, including reports and technical documents, can be found on the gov.uk Employer Skills Survey, 2019 webpage.

Main Topics:

Establishment characteristics; recruitment and vacancies, including occupational detail; skills lacking from applicants; skills lacking from existing staff; underutilisation of skills; the impact of reported skills challenges; employer responses to reported skills challenges; projected skills development needs over next 12 months; training and other skill development activities offered to employees; monetary investment in training; barriers to training and investment in skill development; working practices and business strategy; employer engagement with training and skills provision; Apprenticeships; Traineeships; engagement with schools to provide work experience and other career inspiration, vocational qualifications.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Quota sample

Telephone interview