Skill-shortage vacancies, skills gaps and employee training

Skill-shortage vacancies

• In the North East in 2022/23, employers reported that:
  • There were about 35,000 vacancies in total
  • almost 59% of the vacancies were classified as hard-to-fill, where employers reported difficulties filling the roles
  • just over 37% were skill-shortage vacancies (SSV), where the reason for them being hard to fill was a lack of skills, qualifications or experience among applicants
  • both of these percentages were larger than the England equivalent and the proportion of SSVs was particularly high in the North of Tyne area
  • about 20% of North East establishments had at least one vacancy, a slightly smaller percentage than nationally
  • just under 13% had at least one hard-to-fill vacancy and more than 8% had at least one SSV. These three percentages were both smaller than the England equivalent
• Comparisons with previous years are only available for the broader North East region (including Tees Valley). In 2022/23:
  • The numbers of hard-to-fill vacancies and SSVs were both more than two and a half times higher than in any year from 2011 to 2019
  • the total number of vacancies in the region was more than one and a half times higher
  • the percentages of establishments in the region with all types of vacancies were also at their highest in the latest data.

Skills gaps

• In the North East in 2022/23:
  • Over 46,500 employees were judged by employers to have a skills gap
  • this means that they were considered to be lacking full proficiency for their role
  • this was equivalent to 5.9% of all employees, a similar percentage to that of England
  • just over 16% of establishments had at least one skills gap, a higher percentage than nationally
  • these percentages were both slightly higher in the area including County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
• In the broader North East region:
  • The percentage of employees with a skills gap was higher than in any of the previous five surveys
  • the percentage of establishments with a skills gap was at its highest level since 2013.

Vacancies and skills gaps by industry

• The survey provides information about vacancies and skills gaps in 13 different broad industry groups. Complete breakdowns are only available at national and regional level, where the North East region includes the North East and Tees Valley LEP areas
• in the North East region in 2022/23:
  • Establishments in health and social work and in education were most likely to have at least one skill-shortage vacancy
  • these two industry groups were also most likely to have a hard-to-fill vacancy, whether or not it related to skill shortages
  • establishments in public administration and in education were most likely to have at least one skills gap
  • employees in arts and personal services and in public administration were most likely to have a skills gap.

Training and workforce development

• In the North East, when employers were surveyed in 2022/23:
  • About 61% of establishments had funded or arranged training for staff over the previous 12 months
  • about half of all establishments had arranged training that was on-the-job and 39% had arranged off-the-job training. These were similar percentages to England
  • among employees who received training, the average annual number of training days was 6.1, while among all employees it was 3.8, both rates were slightly higher than in England
• comparisons over time are only available for the nine broad English regions. In the North East region in 2022/23:
  • The percentage of establishments that had supplied any training was slightly higher than in 2019 but lower than in earlier years
  • the average number of training days per trainee was lower than in all earlier years, as was the average number per employee
• among North East establishments that funded training in 2022/23:
  • The most common type of training was job specific training which was provided by 79%
  • about 43% provided new technology training
  • about 32% provided management training and 29% provided supervisory training
• among North East region establishments that funded training in 2022/23:
  • those in the education, public administration and health and social work industry groups were most likely to provide training for staff
  • the average number of days training per employee was highest in health and social work and in financial services. The same was true for the average per trainee.

About the data

The Employer Skills Survey (ESS) is a large scale telephone survey of employers across the UK. Information in the latest release (ESS 2022) is based on interviews between June 2022 and March 2023. 

The survey provides detailed results for the nine English regions, where the North East region includes the North East and Tees Valley LEP areas. Earlier versions of the survey were carried out every other year from 2011 to 2019 and comparable regional statistics are available for these five dates.

The latest release also includes information for combined authority areas and we have produced statistics for the North East LEP area by summing information for the two such areas that existed up to May 2024: 

• North East (County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland)
• North of Tyne (Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland)

There is no time series for this sub-regional geography.