Analysis of longitudinal data from Employers Skills Updating Surveys in the United Kingdom suggests that in many establishments training plans were blown off course by the 2008–2009 recession, with reduced coverage of adult training and especially of off‐the‐job training. The effects of such cutbacks on skill levels have been partially alleviated by more precise targeting of on‐the‐job training on meeting skills improvement needs. However, in a sizeable proportion of establishments, future productivity and competitiveness are likely to be impaired by failure to upgrade adult workers' skills to standards which employers themselves perceived as necessary prior to the recession.