The Learning and Work Institute have released their latest report ‘All change: Understanding and supporting retraining and career change’ calling for an expanded Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which would aim to raise awareness of opportunities for career change, create more flexible and tailored learning and increase the financial support available for those wanting to retrain. This would enable workers and businesses to adapt to labour market change and grow the economy.
Key Findings
- Career changers face an average pay penalty of 3,371 per year and often do not know where to go for help.
- 7.4m people started a new job in 2022-23, driven by a 20% post-pandemic spike in job-to-job moves. Most of this was a rise in moves to jobs within the same sector.
- Around 1.7m people switched sectors last year. Job-to-job moves are one third higher in retail and double in hospitality compared to the UK average, with lots of moves between these sectors.
- People qualified to degree-level and above are 20% more likely to change to jobs in the same sector than those qualified to level 2 or below, but those with lower qualifications are 30% more likely to switch sectors than more highly qualified people.
- Young people aged 16-24 are twice as likely to change jobs in the same sector and 3.5 times as likely to switch sectors as older people, in part reflecting their progression from working while studying to finding a career that works for them and progressing within it.
- Pay growth is 2.9 times faster for people changing job than those staying in the same job. But the initial drop in income can be challenging to manage, particularly if training is required too: a one-year full-time course would cost the average worker £30,000 in lost wages plus course fees, potentially meaning a £40,000 total bill for retraining.
Recommendations
The Government is introducing a Lifelong Learning Entitlement, as we proposed, but it needs widening to provide more support to more people, including career changers:
- Awareness and advice. Campaigns to raise awareness of the opportunities for career change, focused on key transition points in people’s lives and backed by high quality information, advice and guidance including expanding Career MOTs;
- Flexible and tailored learning. We need more training that fits around people’s work and home lives and offers a guaranteed job interview at the end. That could include expanding schemes like apprenticeships for career changers and Skills Bootcamps, but they need to open to a wider range of people – for example, three quarters of bootcamp participants already had a level 3 (A level equivalent) qualification; and
- Financial help. Expanding Train and Progress rules so benefit claimants can train for up to one year. Strengthening the Right to Request Time Off to Train so people can remain employed while retraining during a one-year unpaid career break, with access to a maintenance loan to support living costs. This would be more in line with similar schemes in Austria, Germany and France and help support people maintain incomes.
Without better support to manage longer working lives and economic shifts, people and businesses will find their opportunities limited and economic growth will be held back. Policy and practice need to change to reflect 21st century reality.
Read the full report
