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Skills, skills, skills

Staffing Stream

Skills, skills, skills

Ann Swain
| October 11, 2024
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The new Labour Government has already kicked things off with a bang. Before recess had officially ended, Prime Minister Starmer was warning us all that the impending October budget is going to be difficult to digest. Behind the scenes, we also know that there’s work beginning on the Employment Rights Bill.

In amongst all of this noise there’s one critical issue bubbling away: the growing skills shortages that are impacting the UK’s economy and its productivity rates. The dearth of technical expertise in our workforces is no hidden secret, and the new government has recognized that swift action is needed, which is certainly promising.

Indeed, the plans to launch an Industrial Strategy which is supported by Skills England and reform the Apprenticeship Levy into a Growth and Skills Levy (GSL) are two fundamental tactics to address skills shortages longer-term. The devil will, however, be in the details. But what’s needed to make these plans work?

Developing an Appropriate GSL

Having previously called for a reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to ensure it is fit for purpose in the modern world of work, Apsco was certainly pleased to hear of the plans to broaden this into the GSL. What we don’t want to see, though, is a repeat of previous mistakes. We know that the scope of the Levy has historically meant that take-up was low.

It is vital that the new Growth and Skills Levy is flexible and tailored to regional or sectoral requirements in order to reflect the reality of the modern workforce and have a real impact in the areas that are most impacted by skills shortages. It needs to be used to fund shorter modular training for all, not just early careers demographics or school leavers. Older workers and reskillers, for example, should be included in the Levy, along with agency workers, independent professionals and the self employed, who play such a critical role in today’s economy.

Keeping International Talent on the Menu

Since Brexit, access to global resources has been negatively impacted. For the highly skilled self-employed and contract workforce overseas, the UK has lost much of its appeal, but this has to be addressed. We can’t solve the skills crisis overnight, and employers across the country will need to rely on globally accessible resources.

There are markets that are feeling the impact of skills shortages now, and they need an instant reprieve. In our sector data reports (produced in conjunction with Veritone), we can see that specialist fields are seeing significant falls in job applications. In pharmaceuticals, for example, the number of people applying for roles fell 37% year on year in June 2024. Healthcare has also noted a decline in applications, with the number of professionals applying for permanent healthcare jobs dropping 65% between July 2023 and July 2024.

These professionals can’t be developed overnight, which means that international talent will be needed. To better support this, Apsco has recommended changes to international visas, which includes bringing permitted business within the scope of the Standard Visitor Visa. This would create a a flexible, non-sponsored, short-term visa route for highly skilled foreign employed and self-employed workers. The expansion of existing programs like the Global Talent Scheme to attract a skilled workforce that will positively contribute to the UK’s economic growth will also be beneficial to businesses.

I’ve no doubt that the next few months will see a wealth of activity as Starmer’s government pushes to implement the many plans outlined during the election campaigning. What we will certainly be focusing on is the detail around how any new policies and regulation will impact skills access and development.