News and features

Tue, 8 Sep 2009

Employers 'must continue to invest skills'

McDonald's chief explains ongoing need for skills training and apprenticeships in current economic climate.

The senior vice president of McDonald's UK has urged major businesses not to cut back on the provision of skills training for their staff.

David Fairhurst said that employers in the catering and hospitality sectors and elsewhere must "keep investing in people", despite the inevitable pressure on training budgets brought about by the economic slowdown.

He claimed that by continuing to prize the development of skills among their employees, companies will be able to ride out the effects of the downturn and move into a stronger position for when the economy begins its recovery.

Mr Fairhurst said that it has "never been more important" for employers to work on improving the skills of their workers.

"All the evidence shows [that] it will lead to a faster recovery from the downturn and [businesses] will come out from the downturn in better shape," he explained.

"We've seen the sustained benefits for a number of years. Times are tough but it is important for those businesses that can, to keep investing in the people."

Last week, McDonald's unveiled a plan to become the country's biggest provider of apprenticeship schemes.

The fast food restaurant chain hopes to be providing 10,000 apprenticeships a year by 2010 thanks to the recent increase in government funding for on-the-job training.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has announced that an additional £140 million will be invested in apprenticeships in the UK, creating an extra 35,000 positions for school-leavers.

According to Mr Fairhurst, the McDonald's apprenticeship scheme is designed to equip employees with transferable skills that can "benefit the sector and the wider economy".

Read more about how nurturing talent amongst your employees will give you real business benefits - helping you through the current economic climate.