Despite the challenges of the pandemic, low-skilled workers have continued to move around the labour market.

Working from home presents a new set of challenges for employees and managers alike. Our new research with the Chartered Management Institute looks at the role of managers in supporting low-skilled workers to thrive in their new workplaces and roles during the pandemic.

Our research, based on surveys with 1,000 managers, 1,300 employees, and case study interviews with both groups, found that 91% of low-skilled employees agree it’s important to have a supportive manager when taking up a new role. However, 60% of managers who have been involved in onboarding low skilled workers since the start of the first lockdown said that they have found it harder to manage these new recruits during the pandemic.

Helping new employees to succeed in their new roles is critical to the success of the Government’s Plan for Jobs and in helping low-skilled and younger employees stay and thrive in the workplace.

20 January 2026

Labour market dashboard

Every month, Learning and Work Institute produces detailed and timely analysis of the latest labour market statistics from ONS. Explore our interactive charts.

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24 December 2025

Falling short: Understanding further falls in employer training

This briefing looks at how employer investment in training continues to fall – now down 36% per employee since 2005 – and argues that we must turn this around to improve economic growth.

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22 December 2025

From confusion to clarity: rethinking England’s 670 occupational standards

L&W’s Stephen Evans and Pearson’s Donna Ford-Clarke reflect on findings from our recent research on England’s occupational standards – of which there are now more than double the number in countries like Germany and Switzerland.

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27 November 2025

Responding to the full year apprenticeships data release

Learning and Work Institute’s Deputy Head of Research Dr Corin Egglestone responds to the full year apprenticeships data released on 27 November 2025.

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18 November 2025

Responding to higher technical skills needs

Supported by Gatsby Charitable Foundation, this report explores employer and employee decision making about training and the development of higher technical skills.

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7 November 2025

No train no gain

This research, supported by Multiverse, finds that access to training is a boon for people’s pay and careers. The training dividend is greatest for those on the lower rungs of the occupational ladder, helping them go further, faster.

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7 November 2025

Working class people paid more when they get training from their employer

Experts are calling on the Government to do more to get employers investing in training, as research reveals it’s a “boon for people’s pay and careers” – particularly for working class people.

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5 November 2025

Investing in skills: International policy insights for the UK

This report is the first in a series of three publications supported by the Nuffield Foundation that present the findings from multi-year research into employer investment in upskilling and reskilling in a changing economy.

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5 November 2025

New international case studies reveal how the UK can boost employer investment in skills

A study identifying international practice among employers and in public policy could help the UK increase employer investment in training, which has fallen by 30% per employee since 2011.

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