Employer Survey – Summary Report

Key Findings

Employing people with TVET/CVQ certification

100% of respondents responded that they have no preference for TVET/CVQ certification when recruiting, even if it is a stated requirement of the job.

The majority of employers prefer employees who have relevant work experience above those with vocational qualifications.

Marginally more employers (+6%) preferred to recruit workers with relevant experience and TVET than workers with relevant experience and no TVET.

21% of surveyed employers perceive employees with TVET/ CVQ qualification to be more productive compared to those with no TVET/ CVQ qualification, a further 20% of employees thought employees with TVET/ CVQ qualification might be more productive – suggesting these employers ignore the evidence of their own workplace when recruiting.

Nearly half of employers felt improved knowledge and understanding of the TVET/CVQ qualification would lead to them recruiting more young people with TVET/ CVQ.

Most employers valued key employability and soft skills: problem-solving, initiative and drive, adaptability, team working, communications and customer service etc. and recognised this element of TVET/ CVQ as beneficial.

Employing people with disabilities

Among companies in the region surveyed only 30.9% reported employing people with disabilities (PWDs).

Of the 69% that don’t employ PWDs, nearly two thirds had not interviewed PWDs.

A significant number of employers (24.8%) noted that persons with disabilities have not been considered for employment.

When asked about strategies that would be helpful in reducing barriers to hiring people who have disabilities into their company, ‘disability awareness training’ was the most significant factor (45.9%).