UK Employer Skills Survey 2022 – Scotland Report

Recruitment

This chapter considers employer recruitment practices, including the methods used for recruitment, and the factors that employers look for when they recruit. It also covers the extent to which employers have recruited new entrants into the labour market, including young people and those employees who have been recruited directly from education. Lastly, this chapter explores the proportion of employers providing work placements alongside reasons for not offering these types of placements. Time series comparisons in this section are made against 2021, which was when these questions were last asked of employers in Scotland (Scottish EPS 2021).

Proportion of employers that recruited over the last 12 months

The previous section considered employers’ vacancies at the time of the survey. Considering now more broadly whether employers had vacancies in the 12 months preceding the survey, 63% of employers reported having a vacancy for full or part time staff in the last 12 months. This figure increased with establishment size, 39% of employers with 2 to 4 staff reporting a vacancy, compared to all (100%) of those with 100 or more staff.

More than half (52%) of employers in Scotland had recruited someone in the last 12 months.

This represents an increase from 46% of employers that had recruited in 2021. As with vacancies, likelihood of recruitment increased with establishment size, ranging from a quarter (25%) of establishments with 2 to 4 employees, to almost all (99%) of establishments with 100 or more employees. Establishments with vacancies were more likely to have recruited than those without (81% compared to 43%).

Methods used to recruit

Around three-quarters (75%) of employers in Scotland that had recruited in the 12 months prior to the survey interview used multiple recruitment methods.

Compared to 2021, employers with vacancies were more likely to adopt a single approach to recruitment (21% compared to 16%). There was also an increase in the proportion of employers that reported using word of mouth only to recruit, from 7% in 2021 to 12% in 2022.

Word of mouth or personal recommendations was the most common method of recruitment for employers with vacancies (74%), as shown in Figure 9, however this was a decrease from the equivalent 79% figure in 2021.

Other common recruitment methods (also less prevalent than in 2021) included using internal resources to place adverts on social media (60% compared to 65% in 2021) or their own website (54% compared to 61% in 2021).

Using any external resources to recruit had also decreased from 68% in 2021 to 56% in 2022. The most substantial decrease was in using paid-for recruitment services (other than paying for somebody external to place adverts on the employer’s website or social media), such as the press (38% compared to 48% in 2021). The proportion of employers that had used internal resources to recruit (91%) was similar to 2021 (92%).

Employers with vacancies were most likely to use word of mouth or personal recommendations to recruit new staff

Base: All establishments in Scotland who have had vacancies (Module D) (910).

What employers look for when recruiting

Seven in ten (71%) employers considered meta-skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and leadership, to be of critical or significant importance when recruiting (70% in 2021).

This was the highest proportion among all of the prompted factors to consider, as shown in Table 3. The importance placed on having relevant work experience increased from 59% in 2021 to 63% in 2022. In contrast, there were decreases in the importance that employers placed on having Maths and English to a requisite level (46% compared to 53% in 2021) and having particular academic qualifications (32% compared to 39% in 2021).

Employers reported having meta-skills, such as problem-solving and communication, as the most important factor to consider when seeking new staff

Base: All establishments in Scotland (Module D): (2021: 1,000; 2022: 1,213).

Recruiting young people

63% of employers that recruited in the last year recruited a young person (aged under 25), consistent with 2021 (63%) and 2019 (60%).

The proportion of employers recruiting young people in 2022 is also in line with results in earlier years, as shown in Table 4.

Recruitment of young people remained relatively stable in comparison to previous years

Base: All establishments in Scotland that recruited in the last 12 months (Module D): 2014: 2,440; 2016: 2,470; 2019: 1,611; 2021: 644; 2022: 823.

Recruiting young people was most common among establishments with 25 to 49 employees and 50 to 99 employees (each 85%) and least common among those with 2 to 4 employees (40%).

As shown in Figure 10, employers in Construction were most likely to employ young people (72%), while Primary Sector and Utilities were least likely to do so (54%). More information by size, sector and ROA region is available in Tables 24 to 25 of the Background Tables.

Construction employers were most likely to have recruited young people in the previous 12 months

Base: All establishments in Scotland who have recruited in the past year (Module D): Total (823); Primary Sector and Utilities (40); Manufacturing (56); Construction (40); Trade, Accommodation and Transport (332); Business and Other Services (201); Non-Market Services (154).

Recruitment directly from education

Recruiting directly from education includes recruiting an employee to their first job from school, college or university.

In the last 2 to 3 years preceding the interview, 32% of employers recruited an employee directly from education, a decrease from 2021 (35%), but consistent with 2019 (30%).

Full results are shown in Table 5.

Larger establishments were more likely to have recruited an education leaver, with 80% of those with 100 or more employees and those with 50 to 99 employees having done so, compared to 15% of establishments with 2 to 4 employees. Small establishments were less likely to have recruited education leavers compared to 2021 (15% compared to 22%).

By sector, employers within the Education sector were most likely to have taken on an education leaver (56%), while employers in the Primary Sector and Utilities were the least likely (15%). More information by size, sector and ROA region is available in Tables 26 to 29 of the Background Tables.

Overall, a fifth (19%) of employers had recruited an employee from a Scottish secondary school, 11% recruited from a Scottish college and 13% recruited from a Scottish university. Employers were less likely to have recruited college leavers compared to 2021 (11% compared to 15%), returning to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (11-12% from 2014 through 2019).

Around a third of employers had recruited any education leaver in the previous 12 months

Base: All establishments in Scotland (Module C): (2014: 4,015; 2016: 4,009; 2019: 2,652; 2021: 1,000; 2022: 1,332).

Most employers in Scotland found their education leavers to be ‘very well’ or ‘well’ prepared for work.

University leavers were most likely to be seen as prepared for work (83% of employers), followed by college leavers (82% of employers). A smaller proportion viewed school leavers as prepared (65% of employers) as shown in Table 6. There were no significant differences compared to the levels seen in 2021.

Focusing on school and college leavers, the top skills that were perceived to be lacking were the same for both groups, including: lack of life experience (18% for secondary school leavers; 5% for college leavers); a poor attitude (18% for secondary school leavers; 9% for college leavers); and lack of required soft or personal skills (5% for secondary school leavers; 4% for college leavers).

While university leavers were also perceived to be lacking life experience (7%) and as having a poor attitude (5%), employers were more likely to report a lack of required technical skills (6%) in the top three skills lacking.

The majority of employers felt that education leavers were well prepared for work

Base: Scottish school leaver recruiters (2014: 1,101; 2016: 1,052; 2019: 779; 2021: 297; 2022: 355); Scottish college leaver recruiters (2014: 754; 2016: 707; 2019: 538; 2021: 215; 2022: 246); Scottish university leaver recruiters (2014: 840; 2016: 827; 2019: 491; 2021: 203; 2022: 261).

Work placements

Just under three in ten (29%) of employers had provided any form of work placement over the last 12 months, similar to 2021 though the volume of placements has been decreasing since 2016.

While this result was similar to 2021 (27%), the total number of placements offered decreased. Around 165,000 placements were offered in the last 12 months in the 2022 survey compared to around 210,000 placements in 2021.

The proportion of employers providing work placements remained stable with 2021, while the volume reduced (continuing a trend seen since 2016)

Base: All establishments in Scotland (2016: 4,009; 2019: 2,652; 2021: 1,000; 2022 (Module C): 1,332).

The most common types of placement provided were work trials for potential new recruits, and placements for people at school (10% for each) as shown in Table 8. Compared to 2021, a higher proportion of establishments offered internships (5% compared to 3%). A full comparison to 2021 can be found in Table 33 in the Background Tables.

Among those offering placements, the average number of placements taken on per establishment ranged from 1 individual for internships, to around 4 for university students.

A minority of employers offered placements for those currently in education

Base: All establishments in Scotland (Module C) (1,332).

The proportion of employers providing work placements increased with employer size, ranging from 18% of those with 2 to 4 employees to 68% of those with 100 or more employees. Employers in the Education and Health and Social Work sectors were most likely to have provided work placements in the last 12 months (67% and 52% respectively).

Employers who had not offered anyone a work placement or engaged in work inspiration activities (e.g., careers talks, mock interviews, etc.) in the previous 12 months were most likely to report that this was broadly due to structural reasons (71%), including, most commonly, not having any suitable roles (29%). This was more common for small establishments (33% of those with 2 to 4 employees compared to 17% of those with 25 or more employees).

Other common reasons included not having the time or resource to manage these activities (18%), and COVID-19 pressures such as lack of work or site closures (13%).

Overall, one-fifth (20%) of employers cited reasons related to lack of awareness of these activities as a reason for not providing them, including not being approached to offer placements (13%).

Overall, 15% mentioned reasons which indicated an active choice not to offer work placements or engage in work inspiration activities.

More information by size and sector is available in Table 34 of the Background Tables.