UNITED KINGDOM
A new study by UK union, UNISON has revealed that a third of Government workers are worried they will lose their jobs due to technological innovation or Government cuts.
One in 10 feel additional training has protected them from the threat of redundancy, with staff feeling more secure in their jobs because of the new skills they’ve acquired.
The findings, from a skills survey of more than 38,000 public sector workers, found that 34 per cent believed it ‘likely’ their jobs might go in the next 36 months.
However, the workforce is overwhelmingly keen to learn, with 81 per cent reporting that “learning is important to my self-esteem”.
Staff in sectors hardest hit by cuts were the most pessimistic, with 50 per cent of Local Government workers worried they could be made redundant.
More than two fifths of further and higher education employees (44 per cent), and just under a half (49 per cent) of utilities staff, who generally work in call centres, were worried about job security.
Some 57 per cent of the respondents highlighted automation as the main risk to their jobs, mainly because they did not have the skills to keep pace with the changing workplace.
Staff with low or no qualifications were twice as likely as those with the highest qualifications to identify a gap in their digital and management skills. They were also more likely to have issues with literacy and numeracy.
Employers’ reluctance to provide staff training was frequently mentioned in the survey.
Police and justice workers were among the most dissatisfied with the lack of training on offer, with just under three quarters (74 per cent) highlighting issues with employers as a barrier to training.
London, 15 November 2019
