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Low skilled doesn’t mean low value – How low skilled workers can be a good thing for your business

The UK has one of the most skilled workforces in the world with 42% of workers qualified to degree level, but the highest number of jobs that need to be filled (54%) are found within the low skilled sector.

Take a look at your business. How many labourers, drivers, machine operators, young workers, etc. do you have versus skilled managers, planners, engineers, architects? The number of unskilled workers often outweigh those of a company’s skilled workforce and yet is their value deemed to be as important?

A pivotal part of the workforce

While low skilled workers may not add as much obvious value to a company, they actually make up a pivotal part of the workforce that keeps a company or project ticking over. And we couldn’t agree more. Low-skilled does not mean undereducated, incapable or of low importance, in fact, the majority of low-skilled workers work tirelessly and under tough conditions to ensure that skilled workers have the necessary tools to carry out their jobs. Not everyone is academic, but academia does not necessarily translate into clever, intuitive or capable. Low skilled employees may not be high profile, but their role is no less vital to a business or project than any other job; otherwise, the position wouldn’t exist. In fact, many skilled workers rely on a low skilled workforce to ensure their own job can be carried out.

We need to nurture them

Low skilled workers are essential to any business, and maybe it’s time we took a better approach to how we nurture this particular talent pool. Rather than encouraging upskilling and pushing low skilled workers up a non-existent career ladder, would a business’s time, money and effort be better spent empowering this sector to improve and develop within it? After all, these positions are not going away; we still need a low skilled workforce to keep the cogs of industry moving, so would it be more beneficial to businesses to encourage these workers to stay in one position, become more experienced and skilled in their jobs and reward them accordingly? Surely an employee who has a higher skill level, experience level and is encouraged to embrace and relish his job and is rewarded for this is going to add more value to your business?

Low skilled workers add value to any business – fact. They are the helping hands of your company that add value in a way that may not be easily measurable but is intrinsically essential. Nurturing their skills and valuing the work they do will encourage loyalty and give your business essential continuity and stability. After all, the low skilled worker of today is going to be an expert at their job in the future and what price can anyone put on experience and expertise?

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