The CBI is calling for more investment from firms as part of a major shake-up in training and education as research predicts 90% of South West workers will have to re-skill in the next decade.
The , also wants the Government to scrap the Apprenticeship Levy and reform Job Centres. The CBI in the South West says that if action is not taken soon there will be long-term unemployment problems and skills shortages.
It comes as the CBI releases a report called Learning for Life, based on analysis from US management consulting titan McKinsey and Company, which reveals nine out of every 10 people across the 海角视频 will have to re-skill during the coming decade.
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Millions of people in the 海角视频 will need new skills in digital, science, technology, engineering and maths, plus leadership and interpersonal skills, the research says, as automation and the coronavirus pandemic affect the economy.
Such a huge level of up-skilling will be a mammoth undertaking – costed at an additional £13billion a year – which needs full commitment from business, Government and academia, the CBI said.
It said encouraging more adults to take up lifelong learning is essential, with 68% of employees in roles likely to evolve or disappear in the next decade due to automation – but unaware this is the case.
Ben Rhodes, the CBI’s deputy regional director for the South West, said: “The world of work is changing at breakneck speed. The pandemic has forced companies to employ new methods, evolve fresh products and services, and seek innovative routes to market, simply to survive. Workers have been expected to keep up – but it hasn’t been easy.
“The events of 2020 may have accelerated the process rather dramatically, but business was already evolving through digitisation and automation; there will be no going back now.
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“For workers across South West, like those in the rest of the country, that means there will be challenges ahead. Whether they have been operating in roles which have adapted to the challenges of the pandemic, or sadly seen their job lost to its effects, workers are likely to share a common future: a need to re-skill in the years ahead.”
He said businesses welcomed the Prime Minister’s recently announced Lifetime Skills Guarantee and flexible loans to support bitesize learning. But he said that while these are “laudable first steps” there is a need to go further and faster.
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“CBI research carried out prior to the pandemic reveals the nation faces a stark choice: invest more in lifetime learning and up-skilling, or risk high, long-term unemployment and skills shortages,” Mr Rhodes said.
“Action is needed now. Already the biggest investors in adult training, employers have a clear role to play.
“But structural barriers prevent them from investing more. Training spend per employee declined by 5.6% between 2011 and 2017 and is continuing to fall. A shift in gears is key to drive higher business investment in retraining over the next decade.”
SMEs, in particular, face specific barriers to boosting their investment, Mr Rhodes said and added: “These include a lack of resource and scale. Meanwhile, businesses which pay the Apprenticeship Levy find the current system ring-fences their training budgets to only fund apprenticeships – leaving most companies with funds they can’t spend and skills gaps they can’t invest in.
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“The Government must replace the Apprenticeship Levy with a Flexible Skills and Training Levy and a training tax credit for SMEs to help every business to invest more.
“The training landscape as it stands must also be refreshed,” he added. “Right now, it is heavily geared towards longer, formal courses for young people. Ensuring the new flexible loans entitlement is inclusive of adults of all ages and accessible for bitesize courses is crucial to incentivise more people to take up adult education opportunities.
He said adults lack the advice and guidance they need and advocated turning Job Centres into “jobs and skills hubs” which offer face-to-face learning support.
“Ths would help to tackle this and refocus vulnerable workers on a viable future,” he said. “Right now, the 海角视频 has a unique opportunity to level-up opportunity across the country through re-skilling.
“Business, Government, the education sector and individuals must come together to make South West’s adult education system fit for the future. Getting this right matters hugely for the next generation.”