Employment predictions for the automotive retail industry

Employment in the industry is projected to rise slightly in the long term over the next decade, creating a further 11,000 new job opportunities in the industry.
In addition there will be a need to replace 213,000 existing workers as they leave the workforce for reasons such as retirement. This will create a forecast total of 224,000 job opportunities over the decade.
The occupations within the industry forecast to require the greatest number of new staff are 'sales and customer service' (66k) and 'managers and senior officials' (48k) from 2007-2017.
Skilled trade positions are predicted to fall overall in the industry, but it is expected that there will be a requirement for 15,000 new workers to replace staff who leave their jobs.
Over the next decade total employment in the UK is forecast to increase by 5.7% creating almost 2 million additional jobs.

Source, Working Futures Report 2007-2017, SSC UK Tables ukces.org

New Retail Diploma

The new Diploma in Retail will equip 14 - 19 year olds with skills for the showroom and other customer facing and supply chain roles in the automotive retail industry. This diploma, along with the Diploma in Engineering, will allow young people to start gaining the right skills for the sector much earlier. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has given the go-ahead for 42 pioneering partnerships of schools, colleges and training organisations to start teaching the Diploma in Retail for 14-19 year olds from September 2010. Running alongside GCSEs and A Levels, the Diploma will combine classroom study with workplace experience and retail-based learning. As well as studying the retail business and its supply chain, young people will continue to study English, maths and ICT, and gain essential transferable skills, such as presentation and time management. Diplomas can be used to go into work or on to university.

Progression through Apprenticeships

This is the final report of the Skills Commission's Inquiry into Apprenticeships. Specifically the report aims to focus on progression and emphasise the importance of apprenticeships as a high-quality route to success. Attached is the full Research Report, which details findings and recommendations, which include: Recommendation 1: The Government should ensure that local authorities devote sufficient funds to Connexions so that it is able to deliver high-quality, impartial careers guidance on all routes, including apprenticeships, to all 14-19 year olds. Recommendation 8: Programme-led apprenticeships require clearer definition. Vocational courses that involve full-time attendance at an educational institution and come with no guarantee of an employer-led apprenticeship place upon completion should continue to be full-funded, but should be re-named "pre-apprenticeship training". It must be communicated to learners how the learning they undertake as a programme-led apprentice relates to an employer-led apprenticeship. Recommendation 22: The Government should commission systematic research enabling it to monitor former apprentices who progress to advanced further education and higher education, and those former apprentices who have already progressed. A study should be built up year on year until the Unique Learner Number starts to product informative data.

Women & Work

After two successful phases of the Women & Work funding initiative, the IMI can now announce the arrival of Phase 3. The IMI has devised a flexible programme for women in the retail motor industry, and their employers, to receive funding towards the cost of developing their skills. Less than 20% of the industry's workforce is female and the sector needs to develop a more diverse workforce which will improve the industry as a whole.

Further developments for Assessor and Verifier standards

Lifelong Learning UK are currently developing National Occupational Standards which will include the review of standards which underpin Assessor and Verifier qualifications. These developments are in response to a high level steer across all four nations. Concern was raised that independently developed Professional Standards may not articulate the common requirements of learning delivery across the four nations, and as a consequence may hinder the transferability of skills across borders. It was therefore agreed that a set of 'Meta' National Occupational Standards would be developed that would: - Be comprehensive and inclusive of all of the existing professional standards - Be relevant to all learning delivery regardless of context or environment - Support the transferability of skills - Be a mechanism for sharing best practice in Learning Delivery across the UK.