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A new report from skills charity NOCN Group highlights the government’s missed opportunity of not properly investing in training, up-skilling and re-skilling part-time workers to drive economic growth, fill skills gaps, and ‘Get Britain Working’.

The report, entitled ‘Get Britain Working: The Missing PART of the Skills Gap Puzzle’, looks at the role and value of part-time working for economic growth and social mobility. It includes an analysis of skills solutions provider NOCN Group’s voluntarily-reported learner registration data which found that, in the academic year 2023-2024, only 6% of employed learners undertaking NOCN Group vocational qualifications and training, were part-time workers. This is a significant under-representation considering that the proportion of all workers who work part-time is 26%.

The analysis also found that, while women working part-time represent 14% of the working age population, only 1-2% of NOCN Group learner registrations were in this group.

These findings reflect the situation for part-time workers overall, with lower proportions of part-time workers accessing training than their full-time counterparts, resulting in lower opportunity to improve their employment status through training and development. People who have to turn to part-time work for a variety of reasons see their careers and wages plateau, with training and promotion opportunities stunted as other ‘more present’ full-time employees get promoted above them (Source: Part-Time_Work_Exclusion_Zone.pdf - timewise.co.uk).

NOCN Group chief exec Graham Hasting-Evans, says:

“Employers pro rata part-time workers’ salaries, pensions, annual leave, benefits and working hours – but not their training & development. There’s a serious lack of investment in part-time workers’ skills and this is a double whammy for people who tend to already be disadvantaged and/or marginalised, including those with disabilities and caring responsibilities. It also has a negative impact on economic growth and productivity.

“Getting people back to work and filling skills gaps by training and re-training UK workers is critical for the success of the UK government’s economic policies, but part-time working is not considered in any of their recent bills, white papers, or communications. The benefits of part-time work to the individual, society and the economy does not seem to have been considered – and the fact that part-time workers are not getting equal access to training is being completely overlooked as an area of concern.

“Part-time work can provide a means for people to remain in, or re-enter into, the workforce, so ensuring that part-time workers do not become ‘de-skilled’ is vital.”

NOCN Group’s report concludes that the part-time work needs to be given greater recognition, with employers being encouraged to offer fairer, better access to training and development opportunities for all part-time workers. It says that championing the training of part-time workers would support economic growth by improving the employment and life prospects of part-time workers, and that part-time workers should be able to claim up-skilling courses through the new Growth & Skills Levy.

Recommendations:

• If an 80% employment rate is to be achieved, making part-time work at all levels of employment and pay-grades more accessible and fairer should be a core part of the Government’s Growth Mission and policies.
• Part-time workers and their employers should be able to claim up-skilling courses through the new, more flexible Growth & Skills Levy.
• Devolved areas in England should ensure that Adult Skills funding is a priority area of spending. Authorities should ensure that part-time workers are explicitly targeted as part of their up-skilling and re-skilling activities.
• Employers should be encouraged to see the benefits of hiring and up-skilling part-time workers, instead of relying on recruitment of full-time, already skilled employees. Employer incentives to invest in training part-time workers, through policy and tax benefits, will be key to this transition.