Scottish Employer Perspectives Survey 2019
10th December 2019
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published statistics on Scottish Employer Perspectives Survey 2019.
The Scottish Employer Perspectives Survey (EPS) 2019 is a large-scale telephone survey of 2,652 employers in Scotland.
It provides labour market information on how employers engage with the skills system in Scotland, including:
• their recruitment of new staff
• their perceptions of new recruits (including young people and education leavers)
• their engagement with training providers
• their offering of work placements and apprenticeships
Key findings include:
• 48% of employers have had at least one vacancy in the previous 12 months
• 30% of employers had recruited an employee in their first job directly from education. This is a decrease from 32% in 2016
• The majority of employers find their education leavers to be ‘well’ or ‘very well’ prepared for work
o 58% for school leavers (decrease from 65% in 2016)
o 74% for college leavers (decrease from 80% in 2016)
o 78% for university leavers (decrease from 84% in 2016)
• 36% of employers provided any type of work placement in the last 12 months. This is a decrease from 39% in 2016. The main barriers cited for not offering work placements were structural (68%), i.e. had no suitable roles (38%) or lacked the time and resources to do so (20%)
• 70% of employers provided training to their staff in the preceding year. This is a decrease from 73% in 2016. 31% of employers have arranged or funded training designed to lead to a recognised vocational qualification in the last 12 months (an increase from 26% in 2016)
• 16% of employers offered apprenticeships in 2019 (an increase from 15% in 2016)
• 51% of employers who have experienced a vacancy collected information to monitor the diversity of applicants. 82% of employers with a vacancy could not identify any specific action they have taken to attract and encourage a diverse range of applicants
This is an Official Statistics publication. Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff - more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed on the Scottish Government website.
The full Official Statistics publication can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-employer-perspectives-survey-eps-2019-official-statistics-publication/
Additional information on Education Maintenance Allowances in Scotland can be found at: http://www.emascotland.com