NFER comment on the launch of Skills England

“We welcome this announcement. Our recent skills report highlights concerns about the prospect of widening gaps in the availability of skills most heavily utilised in the labour market now and in the future. These six essential employment skills are Collaboration, Communicating, Creative thinking, Information literacy, Organising, planning and prioritising and Problem solving and decision making.  

“Our analysis suggests 13 per cent of workers already have substantial deficiencies in these skills; equivalent to almost 3.7 million workers in 2023.

“Our projections suggest that without action, the proportion of workers lacking the essential employment skills they need to fully do their jobs could rise to 22 per cent by 2035, equivalent to up to seven million workers.

“There is a pressing need for the government to incentivise employer investment in this area. Allowing these gaps to widen could lead to the stifling of the country’s productivity and act as a drag on economic growth.”