Small firms might have to take on temporary staff to allow permanent employees to take full advantage of training opportunities, it has been claimed.
Anne Fairweather, head of public policy at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), explains that government plans to encourage more workers to improve their skills might mean firms have to fill some short-term gaps.
She said: "This is a positive move to help employees reach their fullest potential within their places of work.
"However, with 300,000 people predicted annually to ask for such skills training, we believe many employers will have to look to temporary or agency workers to cover these absences."
Because of this, the government should ensure that the flexibility of the UK's temporary workforce is maintained.
Under the government plans, workers will have the right to request time off for training, but firms will be able to refuse if there is a good business reason for doing so.
