Invested employers
Our Goal
Employers invest in Scotland’s workforce through job opportunities, skills development, and fair work.
Our customer commitment
We will work with employers to make sure you get the best opportunities they can offer.
The outcomes we want to achieve
- Employers create more jobs in Scotland
- Employers provide more in-work training to their staff
- Employers adopt and further develop fair work practices
- Employers receive more coherent, aligned and streamlined support from Scotland’s enterprise and skills agencies.
To achieve this goal, by 2027 we will:
Increase employer participation in apprenticeships, including micro and small businesses and those in priority sectors and occupations
- Work with the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) to increase employer reach and participation by expanding and strengthening its membership model
- Consider best approaches to increasing access to apprenticeships for business start-ups, micro-and small businesses
- Continue to provide targeted support to employers in priority sectors and occupations to enable them to participate in Scottish apprenticeships.
Encourage employers to become more invested in the development of their current and future workforce
- Encourage employers to upskill and reskill their workforce through skills planning to identify their skills needs and the promotion of available support to meet those needs, including leadership and entrepreneurial skills
- Provide intelligence and digital resources that help employers to identify and plan for their skills needs, through building a greater understanding of the skills system
- With DYW and education partners, encourage employers to engage in the co-design and co-delivery of curricula and experiential career education.
Inspire employers to adopt and demonstrate equality, inclusion, and fair work practices, and to drive quality in their delivery of apprenticeships
- Co-design and implement a new Employer Standard for apprenticeship employers, helping organisations to progressively adopt and enhance their fair work practices and drive the quality of experience and learning for apprentices
- Promote examples of employer best practice to inspire and build confidence in others
- Continue to work with employers, training providers and equality partners to promote inclusion and diversity in apprenticeship recruitment and delivery, contributing to a reduction in underrepresentation and occupational segregation.
Ensure a ‘collaboration-first’ approach to delivering cross-agency products and services to employers
- Through collaboration with strategic partners, including the Business Support Partnership, continue to develop and deliver cohesive and integrated cross-agency employer services.
