News and features

Mon, 8 Dec 2008

Brits 'look to learn new skills'

Job hunters attracted by opportunities to develop new abilities.

The chance to learn new skills is one of the top three factors that attracts UK workers to a job, according to a new poll from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The study, entitled What Do Workers Want?, was carried out by YouGov and involved around 3,000 people employed by companies across Great Britain.

It found that when looking for a job, most people will be attracted by fair pay, the opportunity to work with "great people" and the chance to learn new attributes, the TUC said.

However, a lack of skills development can also be one of the biggest causes of disillusionment, with almost seven million people saying they do not get enough training opportunities.

Other key causes of job dissatisfaction include increasing workloads (46 per cent) and higher levels of stress, which 39 per cent of people identified as a problem.

Levels of dissatisfaction were highest among those in jobs classed as "boring" and "repetitive" that have little prospects for advancement.

The TUC is a network of affiliated unions that represents the interests of around seven million working people.