Employers and policymakers must act now to combat the rising skills shortages and declines in productivity, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation said in an announcement Thursday. And it listed a series of recommendations to tackle the concerns.

The announcement came as the REC released its “The future of jobs” report, the result of its “Future of jobs commission” that had met over the course of the past six months.

"With the world of work undergoing seismic changes, we need to do more to support people on their journey from school to retirement,” said Esther McVey MP, former employment minister and chair of the REC’s Future of jobs commission.

“In particular, helping individuals develop the skills they need to capitalise on new opportunities must involve greater collaboration between business and schools,” McVey said. “With the pace of change, there will be turbulent times ahead, but we want this report to fuel the debate about what the future world of work could and should look like.”

The REC listed recommendations from the report that include:

• Employers should engage with schools, colleges and universities to provide practical advice to help better prepare young people.
• Employers must be more creative with their recruitment procedures, offering flexible work as a standard and removing barriers for under-represented groups (eg by using collaborative hiring or name-blind recruitment).
• Government should create a new employment and skills advisory committee to review data and take evidence to help plan for investment in training and immigration policy.
• Policymakers must ensure that all people can progress, for example by making the apprenticeship levy into a broader training levy that benefits all workers.
• The government and business need to find new ways of measuring the success of the UK jobs market, including progress on inclusion, social mobility, pay gaps and productivity.

“We rightly celebrate the fact that the UK labour market has remained both resilient and agile,” said REC Chief Executive Kevin Green. “But in order to retain that competitive advantage, business and government need to work collaboratively to implement some radical changes. By 2025 we want good work to be the norm, where businesses champion diversity and inclusion and invest in training and skills development for all staff, no matter what kind of contract they are on. We need to foster a labour market where anyone can both find work and progress within work, irrespective of their background.”

The report was produced in association with Brookson, which provides accounting services for contractors and self-employed individuals.

“The most valuable asset that this country possesses is its people, and the way that people want to work, and the work that they will do, is changing,” Brookson Chief Executive Martin Hesketh said. “Creating the right work environment for people is of critical economic and social importance, and the recommendations that this commission has produced are aimed at delivering this.”