Employability and Skills in the UK: redefining the debate

The Work Foundation has released a new report which identifies “progress towards the knowledge economy” and public sector cuts as the major challenges facing the UK skills system. The report’s authors argue that these developments have the potential to exacerbate current problems in the skills and employment system, which they call “not fit for purpose.”

The report identifies a public-private gap in demand for skill levels. Whilst the public sector is a key driver of demand for higher level skills, demand for skills in the private sector is unevenly distributed across the country. This gap must be narrowed by driving up the demand for skills in the private sector, otherwise large-scale public sector redundancies could result in underemployment or skilled labour being forced to move to areas of higher demand.

The report calls on the Government to make those with low and intermediate skills a priority focus and support those out of work and with low qualifications into employment opportunities.

Read the report