Employers in Scotland have many of the same concerns as businesses in other areas of the UK. Customer care, management & leadership, awareness of legislation and developing literacy and numeracy all feature highly on the lists of issues for employers.

• E-learning network for Scottish Housing and Property sectors
  
• Supporting the Supporters scheme to combat literacy and numeracy issues
  
• Workplace Learning to improve access to learning at work

Specific issues in Scotland
There are some uniquely Scottish matters. The well documented declining population means in the future there will be a significantly smaller pool of domestic talent upon which employers can draw.

This has already led to the recruitment of employees from outside of Scotland. Some are from Eastern Europe and although they often bring valuable technical skills, communication can be a problem. As a result, employer interest in schemes such as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) has grown dramatically. In addition, courses to train and integrate these new recruits are becoming increasingly important.

Another important issue in Scotland is the house purchasing system. This is currently under review by the Scottish Executive and the proposed “single survey” has caused much debate. As a result of this proposal, training and development within the property market is set to rise to the top of the agenda for many employers.

Achievements for Scottish employers
Against this backdrop, tangible achievements have included the Scottish Property and Housing e-learning network funded by the European Social Fund Objective 3 Partnership. This network has delivered free e-learning and we are developing sector specific learning in response to employer demands.

Other areas of employment in Scotland demand specific solutions. We are launching a project to support the uptake of adult literacy and numeracy in the cleaning sector. A project bid for similar work has also been submitted to the Highlands Skills Fund. Asset Skills currently chairs the SSC’s Scottish Managers Group and is taking a lead role in a collaborative project involving 25 partners to promote workplace learning in
Scotland.

Our future success will be based upon the uptake of initiatives such as the e-learning network as more employers use the tools we provide to facilitate learning within their workforce.

Delivering regionally sensitive solutions to both the issues common to England and Scotland, as well as those specific to Scotland, will be a key indicator of how well we understand the needs of employers in this complex market.