On 20 March, 91¶¶Òù brought together over 200 senior leaders from business, education, and London government to address the capital’s skills crisis.
With the capital’s above-average unemployment, high levels of in-work poverty, and labour shortages hampering growth, 91¶¶Òù has been leading the charge in developing the London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), a blueprint for getting more Londoners into the jobs businesses are creating. Over the last three years, we’ve engaged more than 1,000 employers, training providers, and various stakeholders, and conducted the biggest data dive on the state of the Labour market and the skills system.
In summer 2023, we published our blueprint, with a clear set of actions for employers, educators, and London government to future-proof the capital’s jobs market across digital skills, green skills, transferable skills, and labour market inclusion. Highlights to date include the creation of the Grow London Local support hub for businesses, an increase in firms joining with training providers to deliver apprenticeships and co-creating new courses in areas such as digital and green skills, and targeted capital investment by providers in cutting-edge training facilities for learners.
Throughout the day, the London Employment and Skills Summit heard from speakers from business, educators, London government, and other key stakeholders, including the Skills Minister Jacqui Smith, who hailed our LSIP report as a ​‘landmark publication’.
Here are our key takeaways from a lively and constructive day of discussion and debate.
The power of public-private collaboration
Strengthening public-private partnerships was a recurring theme throughout the day, with the importance of aligning local needs with business demands, driving both enhanced social equity and economic growth. That includes co-designing training, such as with the Battersea Academy for Skills & Employment (BASE). This service bridges the gap between organisations, tailoring their bespoke training programmes in response to the skills required by employers, supporting the local community into employment.
Widening and maintain the talent pool
Despite the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion backlash from across the Atlantic, initiatives in this space are vital in broadening the talent pool and the perspectives needed to drive business success. Apprenticeships have a key role to play, and reforms to levy funding will help lay the good ground for successful career paths and allow businesses to develop a diverse workforce – and tomorrow’s leaders.
A new way of looking at qualifications
It’s time to challenge the traditional bias towards formal qualifications, and evolve and innovate, incorporating other approaches to assessment in recruitment, such as transferable and people-based skills, which identify aptitude and potential. The forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review should emphasise both technical skills and cross-cutting abilities, such as teamwork.
Business in the classroom
Adopting a ​‘child-to-career’ approach will support young people – particularly the most disadvantaged – to develop the skills they need to enter the workforce. We need to bring business into the classroom – and inspire and equip the young with real-world opportunities and equitable access to work experience.
Upskilling in AI
AI presents both challenges and opportunities in recruitment, upskilling, productivity, and job displacement. Employers should take on the challenge ethically, using AI to enhance their business rather than to hollow it out. This will require well-curated change programmes, focussing on human skills such as adaptability and resilience while implementing more AI training will help workers navigate a complex, evolving job market.
Continuity plus coherence
London faces a significant skills gap, necessitating long-term strategies, including a longer-term, joined-up approach to funding – and greater policy coherence. The LSIP, the Mayor’s new Inclusive Talent Strategy and Growth Plan, and the Government’s Post-16 Strategy and Industrial Strategy must speak to each other. In this context, Skills England – the new body to co-ordinate skills policy – will play a critical role.
Green and good
The green transition and advances in climate technology present a major growth opportunity, particularly for London’s most disadvantaged communities. Strategies should prioritise creating economic opportunities that ensure no one is left behind in the capital’s growth.
Find out more about our work on the LSIP here – and sign up to our newsletter.
