Yorkshire manufacturing: Filling the skills gap
GOVERNMENT support is needed on skills if the manufacturing sector is to play a full part in the UK recovery, according to experts in the region.
A round table discussion on the Yorkshire manufacturing sector heard complaints that Ministers fail to understand the support needed by industry despite repeatedly calling for an export-led recovery.
Kevin Parkin, chairman of Parkin Ltd, said: “““We’’ve got to get back into schools the work agenda and teach kids how to work. We’’ve got them obsessed with going to university. There are some teachers who at the end of each lesson explain its relevancemto the workplace. But teachers are restrained as schools are now obsessed with GCSE results.””
Master Cutler Pam Liversidge said there were cultural as well as policy issues that had to be addressed with the UK workforce.
“I know of a very large manufacturer who wants to bring processes back to the UK but they are saying that quite frankly they know people in the German factories work harder,” she said.
Richard May, managing partner at DLA Piper in Sheffield, said: “The sentiment I see is that despite the lack of help from government we are doing it. So the encouraging thing is that we are doing it but it would be great if manufacturers were also getting that help.”
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