Conference full house embraces the Skills Gap challenge

Warwickshire County Council’s 2018 Skills Conference was a great success as more than 100 people from business and education gathered to discuss skills challenges facing the county.

The annual conference has become a much-respected feature of the county council's ongoing commitment to helping businesses meet those challenges. The council's £2.4 million Skills for Employment programme, which tackles skills shortages and enables young people to become work-ready, was recently allocated an additional £600,000 funding through to 2020.

Delegates at the conference were given plenty of key data and information to digest about the county’s skills picture as it stands now and how it might look in the future. Potential issues caused by Brexit were also discussed.

Key facts included:

• Warwickshire is the fastest growing economy in the country since the recession
• More than 1,000 young people aged 16-18 leave education every year and may be looking for work
• One in five low-wage jobs are filled by EU nationals, many of whom would not meet current visa entry requirement
• 116,000 current jobs in Warwickshire are at high risk of being lost to automation in the future
• Four key skills have been identified as being needed for the jobs of the future: Communication; strategic; analytical; and innovative
• Nationally, 65% of children entering primary school today will work in jobs that don’t yet exist

Much robust discussion took place, both around tables and at a Q&A session with a panel of experts which including Lee Gray (headteacher, Studley High School), Neil Coker (vice-principal, Warwickshire College Group), Lindsay Stewart (chief operating officer, Stratford-on-Avon College), Elaine Stock, (assistant head, Avon Valley School) and Sarah Windrum (digital skills lead for Coventry & Warwickshire LEP).

Also in attendance was Steve Stewart, chief executive of Careers England, who hailed the conference as "a great event."

"We’ve had employers who want to recruit along with schools and training providers," Mr Stewart said. "They are all agreed on what we have to do; get rid of the gap between what employers want and desperately need and what learning-providers offer.”

Sarah Windrum, who is CEO of the Emerald Group as well as digital skills lead for Coventry & Warwickshire LEP, commented: “It was great to see a full-house at the Warwickshire Skills Conference. That is testament to the commitment from our schools, colleges, and businesses who are working with the county council to tackling our skills challenges.

"Our recent success in increasing productivity across the region clearly indicates how well we are working together, but as always, there is lots more to do and there were many good ideas from the conference to take forward. Thanks to all the team at WCC for their hard work on this agenda.”

Neil Coker added: “The conference gave us an excellent opportunity to further explore the challenges faced by the future skills needs in the area. It was an excellent network event supported by detailed local and strategic contexts. Warwickshire College Group is pleased to be part of continuing positive conversations that will ensure we continue to provide the region with a well-trained and highly employable workforce."

A short film montage featured 12 of the 36 skills-related projects WCC has funded in schools, colleges and businesses around the county in the past three years. To see the film and find out more about the Skills for Employment programme please visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/skillsforemployment