One of the issues employers are finding today is the ongoing need for highly skilled and trained staff, or appropriate students for apprenticeships. Despite numerous applicants vacancies are still not filled.
The renowned Chartered Institute for Personnel Development regularly reports on the ‘Labour Market Outlook’ which finds that current UK employer confidence remains close to record lows. Many employers have ‘hard to fill vacancies’ whose requirements are not met despite many applicants.1
Welsh Government, Swansea Council and affiliated organisations are approaching these issues with creative thinking ‘outside the box’, that is a benefit to employers, employees and Parc Felindre occupants.
Future Skills Summit
Welsh Government minister Cefin Campbell, employers, education institutions, trade unions, learners and training providers all gathered at the Future Skills Summit in Swansea Stadium. The Swansea.com Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Swansea.com formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated multi-use sports stadium and conferencing venue. Opened in 2005 with a capacity of 20,750, it is the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea. Minor layout changes have since increased this to 21,088. 2
The Swansea Stadium hosted the first Future Skills Summit, organised by the Welsh Government, in which presentations and workshops explored the way in which the skills system operates currently in Wales and how the insights gained will help shape a new national skills strategy. The event brought together a wide range of voices – from construction, aerospace, health, digital and manufacturing sectors including Airbus, VodafoneThree and Microsoft.
Welsh Government minister Cefin Campbell attested
“In my conversations with ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) members across Wales, there is a clear recognition that while economic conditions remain challenging, there is also significant opportunity. Chartered accountants sit at the heart of decision-making in businesses large and small, providing a valuable barometer of business confidence and economic performance. Across sectors, members consistently highlight the importance of attracting, retaining and developing skilled people as a critical factor in achieving sustainable growth.”
Having attended the Future Skills Summit, whose timing he praised, the minister continued,
“Across Wales, businesses continue to navigate a challenging operating environment. Employers face pressures ranging from rising costs and productivity challenges to technological change and shifting labour market demands.”
“At the same time, significant opportunities are emerging in sectors including advanced manufacturing, green industries, digital technology, professional services and life sciences. The common thread running through all of these sectors is the need for people with the right skills. For Wales to compete successfully in a global economy, we must continue investing in knowledge, professional capability and lifelong learning. Economic development strategies, infrastructure investment and business support all matter. However, sustainable prosperity ultimately depends on people. Businesses can only grow when they can recruit, retain and
develop talented individuals.” 3
(Image: Universities Wales)
Professor Elwen Evans KC, chair of Universities Wales also took part in the Welsh Government Skills Summit in Swansea earlier this month.
Her question is
“Why shouldn’t Wales aspire to become one of Europe’s leading talent economies?”
With employers, educators and policymakers coming together to discuss Wales’s future skills needs, the event highlighted both the scale of the challenge facing Wales and the opportunity before us if we are prepared to think boldly. Wales has ambitious goals for economic growth, productivity
and innovation. “
Professor Evans illustrated that
“future workforce projections point to growing demand for higher-level skills across sectors ranging from healthcare and education to engineering, advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and the transition to net zero, and yet the participation in higher education among young people in Wales is already the lowest in the UK, with rates continuing to fall.” 4
But Swansea is already succeeding to counteract this with various initiatives across education, employers and employees.
Swansea’s Pathways to Work
One of the ways Swansea is introducing fresh new thinking to providing the skills sets needed by its employers, and at its business parks like Parc Felindre, is the Pathways to Work initiative. Hacer Developments is the business behind the city centre's towering new ultra-green Biophilic Living building (see our news blog for February this year where we reported on Swansea’s Bioliphic City status). Hacer Developments collaborated with this skills set initiative and now employs Kabir Balogun on a permanent basis. Through the scheme Kabir is playing a key role in the city's council-driven £1bn regeneration programme.
Kabir said:
"I'm delighted that I'm now a small but permanent element of the process that's seeing the city transformed. I thank all involved with Pathways to Work and the company that took me on - Hacer Developments - for giving me great hope for the future. Hacer are an inspirational business to work with."
Kabir joined Pathways to Work in May after graduating from Swansea University at masters level in engineering and management and then taking temporary work as a labourer. That work – on the Biophilic project which is rising from Oxford Street's former Woolworth store and is due to open next year – allowed him to make Hacer bosses aware of his specialist academic knowledge. Impressed, they agreed to take him on a three-month graduate management trainee programme via Pathways to Work. Kabir excelled during that time – and the business took him on permanently this summer as an assistant project manager. He now works with up to 50 people a day on site, mainly overseeing the work of sub-contractors who supply services.
Carwyn Davies, Hacer Developments Managing Director said:
"Kabir has fitted seamlessly into our team and this is another example of how closely we're working with Swansea Council."We have the same vision - to create a thriving city centre that meets the challenges of modern times through innovation.Our scheme will complement everything else that's taking place in the city centre to support local people and encourage business and even
more investment.”
In our blog next month we will be exploring the ways Swansea is working with employers and educators and employees to grow the skill sets on offer.
Is your business sourcing the skill sets it needs?
At Parc Felindre, the regional workforce of over 650,000 adults supports the employment opportunity of Parc Felindre’s 16-hectare strategic business park.
Its location gives Parc Felindre occupiers access to skill set opportunities for business such as Swansea’s Pathways to Work, the Future Skills Summit, Skills for the Workplace, and funded Higher Apprenticeships. Alongside strong collaboration between Universities, colleges and employers such as Research Hubs, Engineering Leadership Management and joint projects with university and regional industries, such as Fujitsu and Tata Steel.
Parc Felindre offers not only a high quality designed landscape, and accessible employment land but sustainable alignment with skill set training and development opportunities on the local campuses.
Grow your vision for your skill set future at Park Felindre.
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Contact our agent direct for more information on Business Land with a song in its step.
References
1 https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/labour-market-outlook/
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swansea.com_Stadium
3 https://www.gov.wales/working-together-skilled-wales
4 https://www.business-live.co.uk/opinion-analysis/welsh-economy-thrive-need-larger-34803651
Photographs courtesy of
https://www.business-live.co.uk/opinion-analysis/welsh-economy-thrive-need-larger-34803651
