The survey also aimed at recruiting a panel of employers to facilitate a tracking approach; the survey to be repeated at four monthly intervals with the same set of employers.
The interview covered:
- Trends in business performance in the last 6 months, including orders/sales, employment, finance issues and advertising and market activity.
- Anticipated business performance in the next 6 months.
- Skills shortages (recruitment difficulties) in the last 6 months.
- Current skills gaps (amongst the existing workforce).
In total, 223 telephone interviews were conducted with car dealerships across the UK. The respondent was the person at the site with overall responsibility for personnel and training.
152 respondents agreed to join the panel. These respondents have been written to by the IMI, confirming their involvement in the panel. Interviews took between 5 and 10 minutes.
A sample size of 223 has a maximum standard error of +/-6.6% at the 95% level of confidence. More information is provided at Appendix One. This report provides a summary of the findings of the first Panel survey.