Signatories remain committed to employee development, despite the overall economic challenges faced by businesses. In 2021 the number of training days per employee increased by 5.6% year on year, to 1.7 days per employee.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, apprenticeship take-up across the industry declined sharply. The sector’s apprenticeship starts have now picked back up. There was a 67% increase in apprenticeship starts in the full academic year 2020/21 compared to 2019/20 – and 16% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
