Upskilling is a business terminology for self-improvement and gaining extra qualifications within your current role or company. It is being pushed as a vital part of job progression and career development to ensure that you continue to earn more money and climb up the progression ladder instead of sitting in a stagnant job that could become redundant.

A good employer should promote upskilling to its employees and use it as part of your individual development plan. It often involves studying for additional qualifications in your own time to further your career. An employer may offer a benefit of a pay increase once you gain a certain qualification or they may offer future promotion prospects once the qualification is achieved.

If an employer insists that you need a certain qualification to be able to continue to do your current role then ideally they should fund this and provide you study time during the working day to carry out your revision.

However it’s important to remember that if an employer pays for any further training and you leave the company shortly after they may try to recuperate the cost of the training from you.