Staff training "crucial"

Training employees on an ongoing basis is "crucial", an employment expert has said.

Will Cookson, head of skills at Working Links, an initiative set up to support the long-term unemployed, said that the UK economy depends on the skills of its labour market.

Staff must be equipped with modern, up-to-date skills for the economy to grow successfully, he added.

"The way that our economy works now is that it's more about knowledge and understanding of the sector you work and if it's customer facing, on how you translate that to the customer. That's constantly changing," observed Mr Cookson.

"If you continue to not train people and leave them with the same skills you would have had ten years ago, those skills are going to become obsolete. No matter what's happening with the economy, you still need to invest in your staff in order to ensure that those individuals can go on and progress within the company."

Recent figures from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills revealed that the number of adults earning qualifications through the government's Train to Gain programme had more than doubled in 2007-08 compared to the previous year.