Skills Shortages In The UK Economy – Bulletin 12

The twelfth Skills Shortages Bulletin, published by Edge Foundation, finds that economic and social conditions remain challenging, and skills shortages continue to depress productivity in the UK. However, the bulletin also shows indications that given the right initiative positive steps can be made towards achieving national growth goals and reaching net zero targets. 

Read the full bulletin here

Key Highlights:

• Government and employer leadership is immediately required. The Learning and Work Institute reports spending on skills in England will still be £1 billion lower by 2025 than in 2010. ReWAGE summarises two of their recent reports, arguing the UK lacks government leadership and the necessary investment to provide opportunities for the development of intermediate skills which drive productivity growth.
• A feature on ‘Green Jobs’ emphasises that while there is enthusiasm in the labour market to tackle the climate emergency, a lack of leadership by government is
  limiting the essential development of skills required to reach net zero targets. The scale of the skills gaps that will need to be tackled if we are to meet important net zero targets is staggering. To replace gas and oil boilers with heat pumps, for example, the number of trained heat pump engineers will need to more than double every year over the next six years.
• The lack of value attributed to creative skills and sectors is critically scrutinised by contributors. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee recently published a report detailing the central place of creative industries to national prosperity, accounting for £115.9 billion. Further evidence of the strength of creative subjects is provided in the British Academy’s contribution, evidencing how graduates of such courses make high value contributions to the labour market.
• The lack of confidence in many forms of education to cultivate valuable skills needs to be addressed in education itself. The Edge Foundation’s research into 14-18-year-old’s understanding of employability skills development indicates that young people need help to articulate how their educational experiences are developing valuable skills.

Read the full bulletin here