The UK Commission for Employment and Skills: Developing Skills for a Global Economy

1
The UK Commission for Employment and
SkillsDeveloping Skills for a Global Economy
Financial Services Skills Council
ConferenceLondon19 November 2008

• Chris Humphries CBEChief ExecutiveUK Commission
  for Employment and Skills

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The UK not a bad track record, surely?

• 22nd country by size of population
• 16th economy in world by gross national income
• 6th largest world economy by GDP
• USA, China, Japan, Germany, India, UK, France,
  Italy, Russia
• Employment levels at 74.7, compared to EU of 66
• Unemployment at 5.5, compared to EU at 6.9
• Whats the problem?

Source Population, Income and GDP date from CIA
Yearbook 2006 Service economy data from OECD
Factbook 2006,
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UK Jobs and ProductivityAn International
Challenge

• Prosperity depends on jobs and productivity and
  both depend on skills
• Employment UK is 4th in EU 8th out of 30 in
  OECD
• Productivity UK is 10th out of EU 15 15th out
  of 30 in OECD

Source Labour Market Trends (May 2005),
OMahoney and Van Ark (2003)
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UK Productivity and a sectoral challenge
UK Productivity as age of Europes
Good
Poor
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with skills variations across sectors
Source Labour Force Survey, Q4, 2007
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UK Jobs and Productivity a national/regional
challenge
Source Office of National Statistics- GVA data
2006 Employment data Q4, 2007
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with major variations across nations and
regions in skills
Source ONS Regional Snapshot, 2007
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and in unemployment.
Source ONS Regional Snapshot, 2006
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and a major demographic challenge
Projected change in age groups 2010-2020 (in
thousands)

• Particular decline pattern amongst youngest
  workers

826 33
916 23
810 23
552 14
335 11
258 6
2867
375 -10
697 -15
372 -8
356 -8
51

• Big increase in older workers
• 75 of UK workforce already in work
• Yet these are the people we are least likely to
  train

Source UK ONS Government Actuary, 2006-based
Project populations 2006-2081
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UK demographics are changing . . .
Working age
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Skills of the UK adult workforce 1990-2020
33 with high skills
28 with very low skills
Source DfEE/DfES, Labour Force Survey,
1990-2005 Leitch, Prosperity for all in the
Global Economy, 2006
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High employment levels mean we must reach more of
the unemployed and inactive
Source Skills in England 2008, Labour Force
Survey April-June 2007
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Improvements are too slow at school level

• UK Position
• 15th in OECD for older workers
• 22nd in OECD for younger workers

Source OECD, Education at a Glance 2007, Table
A1.2a
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and at tertiary level too

• UK Position
• 12th in OECD for older workers
• 17th in OECD for younger workers

Source OECD, Education at a Glance 2007. Table
A1.3a
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Those who have less, get less
Company training 2006
Individual learning 2003
Learning in last 5 years
Training in last 13 weeks
Source LSC, Skills in England 2007, IER 2007
DfES, Education and Skills The Economic
Benefits, 2003, p17
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and we dont train our managers well!
On-the-job
Off-the-job
Source Keep Westwood, Can the UK Learn to
Manage?, 2003
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Are we closing the gap at the moment?
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What is the big UK ambition?
A competitive society one which achieves a
dynamic equilibrium between wealth creation and
social cohesion
Prof. Stephane Garelli, Editor, World
Competitiveness Handbook, 1995

• Productivity improved to European average
• Increased employment opportunities 80 in work
• A world class high skill workforce
• Better equity and social cohesion closing the
  gaps!

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UK Commission for Employment and SkillsPurpose
and Roles

• Purpose to strengthen the employer voice,
  deliver greater leadership and influence and to
  achieve the best from the employment and skills
  systems
• Principal Roles
• develop an independent view of how employment
  and skills services can be improved to achieve
  increased employment retention and progression,
  skills and productivity
• provide advice to inform strategic policy
  development, analysis and exchange of good
  practice to drive and shape the skills and
  employment system to meet the needs of employers
  and individuals
• monitor the contribution of each part of the
  employment and skills system in creating
  sustained employment and career progression,
  challenging performance and recommending
  improvements in policy, delivery and further
  innovation, directly or as agreed with individual
  nations
• promote employer investment in people and the
  better use of skills
• work effectively across the four UK nations to
  support the world class employment and skills
  agenda and express its advice and
  recommendations to the highest levels of
  governments in the UK
• fund and manage the performance of the Sector
  Skills Councils including their re-licensing.

Source UK Government Remit Letter to UK
Commission for Employment and Skills, March 2008
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Year 1 Work Programme

• Core Programme
• Prepare first State of the Nations Report
  March 2009
• Prepare 2009-14 Strategic Plan April 2009
• Launch and progress SSC Re-licensing
• Review of Employer Collective Measures
• Preparation for 2010 Review of Employment and
  Skills Services, and later review of Statutory
  Entitlement to Learning
• Baseline Projects
• Underpinning Research Programme UK
  International research programme to inform annual
  progress report
• Linking Spatial and Sectoral Initiatives
  maximising the geographic return from
  sectoral/regional skills initiatives

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Year 1 Work Programme (contd)

• Commission Projects
• Simplification seeking to simplify the
  employment and skills system to better serve the
  needs of employers and individuals
• Labour Market Information models to ensure
  consistent, high quality and reliable LMI for
  both sectors and regions
• Mapping the UK employment and skills system to
  facilitate employer access and support
• Employability Skills focused on the pedagogy
  and delivery of employability skills to
  significantly increase work readiness
• Customer Journey studies develop proposals to
  simplify the UK employment/skills system by
  tracking user experiences
• Employee Demand Study assessing existing
  barriers to employee participation in
  career-advancing skills and training
• Skills Utilisation how to deploy higher
  level skills to implement more productive and
  competitive business strategies

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Summary of purpose
To inform strategic policy development, analysis
and the exchange of good practice in the four UK
nations to create a world-class skills and
employment system that better meets the long-term
needs of employers and individuals
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Headline Commission strategy
Analyse Leading edge research and analysis
Global Economy
Challenge Raise ambition, engagement and
investment
Improve Build a high performance culture
UK Commission for Employment and Skills -
building a world class employment and skills
system

• Develop
• Effective policies, measures incentives
• Simple and responsive structures/processes

Political and policy context
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Key constituencies and relationships
World Class Employment and Skills
Employers
Sector Skills Councils
Employment Skills Boards
Communities
Providers
Careers Guidance Services
Government UK, DA, local
Individuals
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UK Commission -Draft Strategy Map 2009-2014
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS AND SOCIAL
COHESION 2020 Target UK still 6th largest world
economy 2020 Target Improved standard of living
and reduction in poverty gap
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY (Good industries
sustainable) 2020 Target UK productivity EU
average
INCREASED EMPLOYMENT (Good jobs career
progression) 2020 Target 77 employment rate
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Your contribution please

• Does this strategy feel as though it is in the
  right territory?
• Are our goals for the UK appropriate?
• What objectives, targets, measures and incentives
  does Government need to change to improve the
  performance of one of the following employers,
  individuals and providers?
• What systems and processes need to change to do
  the same?
• What is the anticipated impact of this effort on
  the system? On employers? On learning providers?
  On individuals?