EMPLOYABILITY AND SECURITY IN A FLEXIBLE GLOBAL LABOUR MARKET Learning, training and qualifications in Britain British seems pole-axed by polarisation ‘Britain’s training and education has become polarised to an extraordinary degree,’ was the forthright opinion of John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, Britain’s General Union, pointing out that 23 per cent of the population has major problems with literacy and numeracy.‘In short, these people cannot read and write beyond the level of an eleven-year-old. At the other end of the spectrum, 30 per cent of those aged eighteen to twenty-one are attending university. This illustrates the polarisation of our education and training.’ Mr Edmonds argues that Britain’s problems lie in the middle ground, especially with craft and technical training.‘On average Britain trains less than half the number of people in crafts as Germany does. Worse, the existing training system in the UK is exacerbating the problem. There are few opportunities for anyone leaving school without a qualification to gain one and little chance for having any training throughout their working life.’ An education report issued in 2001 showed that about 80 per cent of training opportunities go to people who already have qualifications.‘Our existing system only reinforces the polarisation created by the education system. The result is that 32 per cent of our working population lacks any transferable qualifications. This means that if they want to go for another job, they have no evidence of their skills. They have nothing to ‘trade’ with a new employer. On the other hand, a very high number of people compared with many other European countries attend university and have degrees.’ This situation is reflected in Britain’s industries.‘We are short of technical engineers, but we have too many research engineers. Vast numbers are trained to the highest level, but too few people are able to fix anything. This is our new British disease. Too many people want to do high-grade research and too few want to work on the shop floor. This is a general pattern that dominates all our industries.’ Companies in Britain have no trouble recruiting university graduates or unskilled labour, but find it difficult to find technicians – the middle level workers on which every industry depends.‘We have people who can make the technological breakthroughs, who are great at research. But we don’t have the people who can convert those breakthroughs into production. Outside manufacturing, in the service sector, we have a similar problem. For example we have twice as many managers in our hotels as in Germany or France, but we have fewer people training at the craft level. The result is that we have too many managers trouble shooting because there is no skilled labour. At the other end we have more unskilled workers than comparable industrial countries. This is causing enormous social strains and is a clear drag on our economic performance.’ 31 © Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society