UK employer perspectives survey 2010

This report presents the findings of the UK Employer Perspectives Survey 2010. The Employer Perspectives Survey (EPS) is one of two major employer surveys conducted on a biennial basis by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (the UK Commission). The aim of the survey is to provide robust evidence for policy makers regarding employers’ engagement and satisfaction with government support for recruitment and workforce development. The survey is unique in that it allows for comparisons to be made across the four nations of the UK, where different initiatives are in operation, and it compares employers’ perspectives of services and initiatives across three areas of government policy: general business support; employment; and skills. The UK Employer Perspectives Survey 2010 developed from employer surveys conducted by one of the UK Commission’s predecessors, the Sector Skills Development Agency, and was designed to enable some comparisons to be made with previous survey findings. The Survey was also designed to complement the UK Commission’s other major employer survey, a UK-wide Employer Skills Survey. Whilst the Employer Perspectives Survey is externally focused, in that it examines employer awareness and use of external support, the Employer Skills Survey is internally focused and seeks to understand employers’ skills challenges and their responses to these challenges. The UK Employer Perspectives Survey 2010 was conducted between June and August 2010, as the UK was emerging from recession and in the immediate aftermath of the election of the coalition government. Reductions in government spending were anticipated but the details were unknown.