Flexible skills funds for SMEs and a ‘single skills portal’ for firms to access apprenticeships are among measures that would support getting people into jobs, East Midlands Chamber has said, after unemployment among over 16’s in the region reached 6%.
The latest estimated figure from the Office for National Statistics covers the three months to November 2025 and is the highest level since the last three months of 2020.
East Midlands Chamber Director of Policy and Insight Richard Blackmore said: “We can’t keep seeing East Midlands unemployment creep up without fixing the root causes. Employers need support and that means addressing the skills gap and bringing down the high cost of doing business.
“Across the whole of 2025, our Quarterly Economic Survey showed stalled investment in recruiting of staff, with between six and seven out of ten firms consistently reporting having had difficulty finding staff.
“Skills investment is essential so that when a role is advertised, an applicant fits the criteria an employer needs and can hit the ground running. Our recently published Framework for Growth – which outlines the ways to unlock the full potential of the East Midlands – asks for flexible skills funds for SMEs and microbusinesses, a single skills portal where firms can easily access apprenticeships and to align skills funding with business and planning cycles. At the moment, for example, funding cycles are too short-term so it’s hard for a business to plan sustained investment.
“Alongside the need to urgently address skills shortages are the high costs associated with employing staff. These increased in April last year as employers had to foot the impact of measures like higher National Insurance contributions being implemented from the 2024 Autumn Budget. Mitigating those costs and anxiety in the lead-up to the 2025 Autumn Budget are likely to have resulted in hesitant hiring, with firms alleviating their cost base through natural attrition, where staff that leave are not replaced.
“With the economy having grown slightly, according to GDP figures published last week, as well as the 2025 Autumn Budget a little less tough on business than in the previous year, it is likely we’ll see some stabilisation in employment as the year unfolds but with challenges like high business rates, pressure remains.
“Political leaders must urgently prioritise skills investment and support business so it is incentivised to invest. Acting on the asks outlined in the Chamber’s Framework for Growth would be the best way forward.”
View East Midlands Chamber’s Framework for Growth here.
