Recruitment and Training Among Large National Employers

This research aimed to inform the Learning and Skills Council's understanding of large national employers' attitudes and practices in terms of recruitment and training.

Specifically, the research explored:

• whether employers prefer to recruit 'ready-made' staff externally or to train 'in-house', and whom they believe has the main responsibility for providing a skilled workforce
• recruitment practices, and especially the relative roles of qualifications and skills in the sifting process
• the role of head or national offices in developing training plans and how far these are developed nationally or devolved to local sites
• the training 'ethos' of companies, including what levels of employee typically receive training and whether the company's views on particular skills are filtered through to its suppliers
• the different methods companies use to retain staff and what role training plays in this
• the perceived benefits of training.