Are We in a Short-Term Skills Trap? | FE Soundbite 779

January 11, 2025

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 779: 11th January 2025 | Are we in a short-term skills trap? How do we Build tomorrow's workforce from the foundations up? | FE Soundbite 779 we look at the Construction Skills gap, particularly where are the skilled workforce to build 1.5 Million homes, to Foundation Apprenticeships, NEETs, Economically inactive, AI, Green Skills, ESOL, Social Justice and supporting traumatised learners ... we really chew the fat on the big issues in FE, Skills and the wider economy this week.

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

Wow what an epic week of content. Two stand out pieces for me were Graham Hasting Evans piece on the Construction Skills Gap and Simon Ashworth's piece on Foundation Apprenticeships.. and are we laying solid Foundations for Apprenticeship pathways with Foundation Apprenticeships? Both of these articles raising crucial questions about building solid pathways into skilled careers.

The construction sector needs 152,000 skilled workers, particularly in bricklaying, carpentry, groundwork and plant operations. CITB and NHBC's plan to train 25,000 apprentices over five years barely scratches the surface of this demand.

Interestingly, both Simon and Graham highlighted the potential of NEETs.

Shockingly, we have 900,000+ young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) - a massive untapped resource. Which is 12% of all 16-24 year olds, it is mind boggling. It should be a match made in heaven...But bridging this gap isn't simple. Employers face rising costs with National Insurance hikes and an 18% increase in apprentice wages, while the minimum wage for 18-20 year olds jumps to £10.00 in April. That's a significant investment in someone who isn't yet work-ready. So employers are not incentivised to think about long-term career development, instead of short-term jobs and filling immediate gaps.

Are we getting stuck in a short-term skills mindset?

Rising minimum wages make entry-level jobs temporarily attractive, but they don't build careers. The decision to defund Level 7 apprenticeships sends exactly the wrong message about career progression and pathways, and in my opinion this decision is basically telling young people to prioritise immediate gains over long-term development.

How do we convince someone to start at the bottom of a career ladder when they can earn more stacking shelves? No wonder we have an Apprenticeship dropout issue. The £10.00 minimum wage for 18-20 year olds from April might seem positive, but it could actually discourage career development. We need to make the 'jam tomorrow' of skilled careers more appealing than the 'bread today' of minimum wage jobs. At the same time, how can we support and encourage employers to take a chance on someone who is not effectively 'work ready'... both the employer and employee needs help!

This requires a fundamental shift in thinking. Employers need support to offer genuine career pathways, not just jobs. Young people need to see clear progression routes - from Foundation Apprenticeships right through to advanced qualifications, and don't get me started on the need to tap into the career changers or the 'economically inactive'.. as we have double the number of people who are economically inactive compared to those that are unemployed.

The UK is the only G7 country with a smaller workforce than before the pandemic

The skills crisis is real and deepening. As George from Work Foundation highlighted in his article, the UK is currently the only G7 country with a smaller workforce than before the pandemic! We have a golden opportunity to match young talent with critical skills gaps, but only if we can make the long-term benefits of career development more attractive than short-term wage gains. It's time to invest in progression, not just entry-level wages - and we need solid announcements very soon. Quality solutions take time to implement, and the gap between policy decisions and actual delivery grows wider every day. The longer we wait to address this fundamental shift in thinking about careers and skills development, the harder it will become to bridge these critical gaps in our workforce.

FE Careers new site launch

Big news for us next week. We are launching the new FE Careers job site on Monday 13th January.. 21 years ago we launched FE Careers and FE News in Studio 13.. so I couldn't resist the date to launch!