The Budget countdown continues and EEF is keeping up its campaign for measures to support investment and skills retention.
In a joint letter with the TUC, British Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses and the Work Foundation, we reiterated our call for the Chancellor to bring forward a temporary short-time working scheme in next week’s Budget.
EEF have been leading the charge on this for some months.
Last month a survey of EEF members showed that companies were looking at a range of measures to avoid redundancies and hang on to skilled workers. With demand still in the doldrums, the need for temporary and targeted wage support for employees on short-time working, linked to training, has not waned. The broad support being given to these proposals by employers’ organisations and trade unions highlights the importance on protecting the UK’s skills base in preparation for the upturn. This is particularly important for manufacturers given that attracting and retaining skilled workers was one of their main concerns when times were good.
There is already a fair bit of speculation on what Alistair Darling might (or might not) announce next week and whether this will indeed be a Budget for business. For all the emphasis on developing a world class skills base in the past few years, the recession risks undoing some of the good progress we’ve made. Employers and unions agree that short-time working support would make a difference – but we’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see if the Treasury agrees with us.