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Within L&D circles, we’re – unsurprisingly – always talking about skills: How to look for them, how to nurture them, and how to fill any gaps we find. But the skills conversation hit the national stage last week during Keir Starmer’s speech at The Labour Conference, when the Prime Minister announced plans to reform the apprenticeship system in England in order to boost opportunities for young people.
Starmer called attention to findings from the first Skills England report, which highlighted the fact that “employer investment in training has been in steady decline over the past decade, with training expenditure at its lowest level since records began in 2011, and investment per employee down by 19% in real terms.”
The report also states that “across the UK, almost 1 in 10, or over 2.5 million roles are in critical demand, with more than 90% being in roles that require training or education” – along with plenty of other findings, some of which we’ll detail in this blog.
So, what exactly does all of this mean for L&D?
Well, the magnum opus of a report clocks in at a hefty 64 pages. We know better than anyone how busy L&D teams are – so in this latest edition of the Thrive Blog, we’re going to save you some time by breaking down everything you need to know about the new research, along with some key insights to take away.
‍
Here are the key findings from the Skills England Report, which highlighted significant opportunities to support businesses navigating a rapidly changing skills landscape:
The first major takeaway from the report is the fact that employer investment in training is at its lowest point since 2011.
Skills England posits a few reasons for this decline, including: Employers believing that their staff are already sufficiently skilled; not having the resources to upskill staff beyond the minimum job requirements; a lack of industrial strategy; strong international labour supply and flexible labour market; a shift in attitudes, shifting responsibility for upskilling from employers to government; and low overall business investment.
The UK faces critical shortages in essential skills (literacy, numeracy, digital) and specific sectors like health & social care, manufacturing, and technology.
“The most recent data (from 2011, due to be updated in late 2024) shows that 9m working aged adults in the UK had low literacy or numeracy skills or both. Additionally, digital skills are increasingly important in the modern economy, with basic digital skills being important to the majority (92%) of employers.
However, around 7.5m working age adults do not have basic digital skills, less than half (41%) of the UK workforce can do all 20 tasks deemed essential digital skills for work and 15% of 18-24 year olds could only do 9 or less of the tasks deemed essential digital skills for work.”
These findings track with our own research at Thrive, which we recently discussed in our blog Bridging the generational gap: How different generations learn. Despite the perception of Gen Z as being “tech-obsessed”, there is a significant gap in knowledge for a lot of young people when it comes to using more established technology. A study from Koenig Solutions revealed that less than 1 in 5 members of Gen Z are comfortable using office-based software – presumably thanks to smartphones being the dominant technology throughout their lives.
The inverse of the “essential skills” element in the report is “future megatrends.”
While essential skills are still – well – essential, the report is also concerned about the demographic shifts that are going to shape workforce needs going forwards. These include technological advancements like AI and automation, as well as the “green transition”: “The impact of climate change and government working to achieve net zero and clean energy targets.”
Skills – and skills needs – vary significantly across the UK, and specific sector skills are highly concentrated in different regions. The report highlights that one third of the UK’s finance population is based in London, while a large proportion of the Nuclear industry is in the North West.
When it comes to skills levels, there is also a wide regional disparity. 61% of people in London are qualified at Level 4 or above, compared to 38% in Cornwall and 33% in Greater Lincolnshire.
‍
So, what can we in L&D take away from these findings? Let’s explore some helpful insights.
‍
You won’t be surprised to hear us championing the importance of personalisation, but Skills England’s findings about regional skills disparities just further drives home how wide the skills gap is between individuals, and how essential it is to pay attention to this gap.
The importance of tailoring learning experiences to individual employees – and specific regions – can’t be overstated. Personalised variations of courses can address specific local skills gaps, as well as skills gaps in individuals.
Investment in skills is more important than ever. This report should be a wake up call, demonstrating that training isn’t a nice-to-have, but rather essential to keep growing our economy.
We all know that stakeholder investment is crucial, and with the revelation that training expenditure is the lowest it’s ever been since 2011 (eek!) it's obvious that something needs to change. So how can you, as an L&D practitioner, gain that all important buy-in?
You can actually leverage your learning platform vendor’s expertise to help you bridge this gap. Sometimes, you might know what your L&D team needs, but not know how to translate that to your stakeholders. If your vendor is worth their salt, they should be able to speak both the language of your stakeholders, and that of L&D.
This also extends to later down the line. Having data and analytics built into your learning platform is essential to continuing to prove value and impact.
‍
You can’t build anything worthwhile without a solid foundation.
While it’s tempting as an L&D practitioner to get excited by fun, additional upskilling opportunities, we first have to be sure that those essential skills are in place.
Bake these essential skills into your L&D strategy, developing engaging and accessible training for all generations.
‍
Okay, now onto the fun part.
Skills are the currency that keeps businesses competitive, and those that embrace AI and learn how to harness it are a great example. Once your teams are skilled in the essential areas, you can then move onto the future skills that will shape the landscape in years to come. AI isn’t going anywhere, and while many are fighting against it, it will become an essential skill.
Invest in developing your employees’ competencies in this area, and make sure that your learning platform is set up with AI-powered features to help them get to grips.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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Within L&D circles, we’re – unsurprisingly – always talking about skills: How to look for them, how to nurture them, and how to fill any gaps we find. But the skills conversation hit the national stage last week during Keir Starmer’s speech at The Labour Conference, when the Prime Minister announced plans to reform the apprenticeship system in England in order to boost opportunities for young people.
Starmer called attention to findings from the first Skills England report, which highlighted the fact that “employer investment in training has been in steady decline over the past decade, with training expenditure at its lowest level since records began in 2011, and investment per employee down by 19% in real terms.”
The report also states that “across the UK, almost 1 in 10, or over 2.5 million roles are in critical demand, with more than 90% being in roles that require training or education” – along with plenty of other findings, some of which we’ll detail in this blog.
So, what exactly does all of this mean for L&D?
Well, the magnum opus of a report clocks in at a hefty 64 pages. We know better than anyone how busy L&D teams are – so in this latest edition of the Thrive Blog, we’re going to save you some time by breaking down everything you need to know about the new research, along with some key insights to take away.
‍
Here are the key findings from the Skills England Report, which highlighted significant opportunities to support businesses navigating a rapidly changing skills landscape:
The first major takeaway from the report is the fact that employer investment in training is at its lowest point since 2011.
Skills England posits a few reasons for this decline, including: Employers believing that their staff are already sufficiently skilled; not having the resources to upskill staff beyond the minimum job requirements; a lack of industrial strategy; strong international labour supply and flexible labour market; a shift in attitudes, shifting responsibility for upskilling from employers to government; and low overall business investment.
The UK faces critical shortages in essential skills (literacy, numeracy, digital) and specific sectors like health & social care, manufacturing, and technology.
“The most recent data (from 2011, due to be updated in late 2024) shows that 9m working aged adults in the UK had low literacy or numeracy skills or both. Additionally, digital skills are increasingly important in the modern economy, with basic digital skills being important to the majority (92%) of employers.
However, around 7.5m working age adults do not have basic digital skills, less than half (41%) of the UK workforce can do all 20 tasks deemed essential digital skills for work and 15% of 18-24 year olds could only do 9 or less of the tasks deemed essential digital skills for work.”
These findings track with our own research at Thrive, which we recently discussed in our blog Bridging the generational gap: How different generations learn. Despite the perception of Gen Z as being “tech-obsessed”, there is a significant gap in knowledge for a lot of young people when it comes to using more established technology. A study from Koenig Solutions revealed that less than 1 in 5 members of Gen Z are comfortable using office-based software – presumably thanks to smartphones being the dominant technology throughout their lives.
The inverse of the “essential skills” element in the report is “future megatrends.”
While essential skills are still – well – essential, the report is also concerned about the demographic shifts that are going to shape workforce needs going forwards. These include technological advancements like AI and automation, as well as the “green transition”: “The impact of climate change and government working to achieve net zero and clean energy targets.”
Skills – and skills needs – vary significantly across the UK, and specific sector skills are highly concentrated in different regions. The report highlights that one third of the UK’s finance population is based in London, while a large proportion of the Nuclear industry is in the North West.
When it comes to skills levels, there is also a wide regional disparity. 61% of people in London are qualified at Level 4 or above, compared to 38% in Cornwall and 33% in Greater Lincolnshire.
‍
So, what can we in L&D take away from these findings? Let’s explore some helpful insights.
‍
You won’t be surprised to hear us championing the importance of personalisation, but Skills England’s findings about regional skills disparities just further drives home how wide the skills gap is between individuals, and how essential it is to pay attention to this gap.
The importance of tailoring learning experiences to individual employees – and specific regions – can’t be overstated. Personalised variations of courses can address specific local skills gaps, as well as skills gaps in individuals.
Investment in skills is more important than ever. This report should be a wake up call, demonstrating that training isn’t a nice-to-have, but rather essential to keep growing our economy.
We all know that stakeholder investment is crucial, and with the revelation that training expenditure is the lowest it’s ever been since 2011 (eek!) it's obvious that something needs to change. So how can you, as an L&D practitioner, gain that all important buy-in?
You can actually leverage your learning platform vendor’s expertise to help you bridge this gap. Sometimes, you might know what your L&D team needs, but not know how to translate that to your stakeholders. If your vendor is worth their salt, they should be able to speak both the language of your stakeholders, and that of L&D.
This also extends to later down the line. Having data and analytics built into your learning platform is essential to continuing to prove value and impact.
‍
You can’t build anything worthwhile without a solid foundation.
While it’s tempting as an L&D practitioner to get excited by fun, additional upskilling opportunities, we first have to be sure that those essential skills are in place.
Bake these essential skills into your L&D strategy, developing engaging and accessible training for all generations.
‍
Okay, now onto the fun part.
Skills are the currency that keeps businesses competitive, and those that embrace AI and learn how to harness it are a great example. Once your teams are skilled in the essential areas, you can then move onto the future skills that will shape the landscape in years to come. AI isn’t going anywhere, and while many are fighting against it, it will become an essential skill.
Invest in developing your employees’ competencies in this area, and make sure that your learning platform is set up with AI-powered features to help them get to grips.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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