Learning Organisations, Lifelong Learning and the Mystery of the Vanishing Employers

Last month saw the publication of the National Skills Task force's final report. The report outlined shortcomings in the UK's vocational education and training (VET) performance. It advocated a number of measures to boost the supply of skilled and educated labour. This follows numerous pronouncements from the present and previous administrations in similar vein. Terms like ‘the learning society’ and ‘the learning organisation’ have become common currency. The ESRC Research Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance is investigating the complex issues involving skills and economic performance. Directed by Ken Mayhew and based at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick, one strand of its research is to investigate the possibility that an important source of the UK's VET failings is the lack of demand for skills by employers, and that this at least as important as shortcomings on the supply side. This article by Ewart Keep expands on this theme.