Rising to the UK's Skills Challenges (CIMR Debates in Public Policy)
When:
—
Venue:
Online
Speakers:
- Dr Abigail Taylor, Research Fellow at City-REDI, University of Birmingham
- Juliet Eccleston, Founder of AnyGood? and Chair of Sharing Economy UK
Chair: Matthew Jayes
Discussant: Ulrich Hilpert
The Industrial Strategy Council, in collaboration with the McKinsey Global Institute, conducted analysis to estimate skills mismatch in the UK workforce in 2030. They found that by 2030, the most widespread under-skilling is likely to be in basic digital skills, core management skills and STEM workplace skills. Workers are also likely to face an acute shortage in teaching and training skills (the ability of those in the working environment to upskill others). With 80 percent of the 2030 workforce already in the workforce today, reskilling will be the major challenge between now and 2030.
The Industrial Strategy Council published a second research paper exploring what is needed to tackle this challenge. This highlighted a pressing need to shift to existing and new forms of lifelong learning in response to on-going longer working lives and rapidly changing skills demands. One of the co-authors of the paper, Dr Abigail Taylor, will outline why the Industrial Strategy Council calls for a clear overarching vision for UK skills and a long-term commitment to delivering it in partnership with employees, employers, training providers, social partners and employer organisations. Abigail will argue that improving UK management practices and enabling individuals to assume ongoing responsibility for developing their own skills and learning will need to be key elements of that overarching vision.
This event aims to get broad input into what a clear vision for UK skills that is participative and inclusive, encompassing the needs of adapting businesses and atypical workers, would look like.
Joining Instructions:
Please register via the link above by 5pm on Tuesday 30 March. You will be sent the link to join on the morning of the event.
Bios:
Abigail Taylor
Dr Taylor joined City-REDI in October 2018 as a Policy and Data Analyst before becoming a Research Fellow in February 2020. She works on a variety of projects at City-REDI and WMREDI. This has included: conducting a Literature Review of Employment Support programmes for the West Midlands Combined Authority, evaluating the Connected Communities Employment Support programme for the West Midlands Combined Authority, and working with the Smart Specialisation Hub to map the value of funding from various public and private sector programmes at LEP level and analyse the challenges and strengths in LEPs’ experiences of applying for external funding. Most recently, Abigail has supported the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory by producing profiles of Midlands Engine LEPs.
From spring 2019 to autumn 2020 Abigail undertook a 0.5 secondment to the Industrial Strategy Council providing research on three projects examining skills challenges facing the UK and how they might be addressed as well as how the UK system compares to international skills systems, the process of developing Local Industrial Strategies and international evidence on effective place-based interventions. She is particularly interested in employment support policy; regional and local labour markets and skills; and funding strategies. Her research often involves a cross-national focus.
Juliet Eccleston
Juliet is CEO and founder of AnyGood?, a platform where a diverse network of professionals recommend other professionals for roles. Prior to this her background was delivering multi £m change programmes. After 20 years building high performing teams, her frustration with the process for recruitment collided with opportunity and the rise of the sharing economy. This drove her to develop an alternative. AnyGood? launched in 2017 and utilises networks to uncover potential. The platform is now being used by forward thinking start-ups, SMEs and large corporates across the UK and beyond.
Juliet is also Chair of Sharing Economy UK, the trade body for sharing economy platforms, which works in partnership with the CBI. Juliet’s specific focus is to support the growth of the sharing economy, maximising and highlighting its economic, social and environment impact to enable it to reach its true potential.
Matthew Jayes
Matthew Jayes is Strategic Partnerships and Networks Manager, Chartered Management Institute (CMI). The CMI set out in its latest policy paper on Future Skills and Retraining that significant new investment is needed to ensure we can equip workers with the skills they will need to remain competitive. Matthew leads CMI networks, including CMI Women, CMI Race and Chartered Companions, and develops strategic partnerships to support CMI’s mission to increase the number and standard of professionally qualified managers.
Previously he worked for the business schools at Coventry University and Birkbeck, University of London. At both institutions he completed Master’s degrees in management alongside work and is a whole-hearted advocate of lifelong learning. Matthew completed an Industrial Strategy Fellowship secondment to the Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), engaging with stakeholders to develop the Good Work Plan and leading on labour market strategic projects, including quality of work and ethnicity in the workplace.
Contact name:
Isobel Edwards