Bridging the skills gap: Understanding tomorrow's skills shortages

The UK is facing major skills shortages. Apprenticeships are vital to plugging the skills gap and creating a future-ready workforce for the UK.

Bridging the skills gap: Understanding tomorrow's skills shortages

Since the beginning of 2023, 40% of Institute of Directors (IoD) members have consistently stated that employee skills gaps are having a negative effect on their organisation.

The current and upcoming skills gaps can only be filled with training provision that effectively meets the needs of learners and employers. Here, we examine the areas expected to experience the most significant skills shortages over the next decade, and how providers can deliver quality training to address the demand.

Engineering

City & Guilds’ analysis of Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) research undertaken across England found a “mega-trend” of engineering skills shortages.

Technological advancements like automation are accelerating. Consequently, the need for engineering specialists will increase exponentially over the next 10 years – but not necessarily as we know them.

The ability to work with drones will be one essential area. Other key areas include knowledge of sensors that are used alongside artificial intelligence to optimise business operations, and advanced technical skills like 3D printing and computer-aided design (CAD).

Engineering programmes will quickly become outdated if providers only stick to conventional skills and fail to update the curriculum. Instead, engineering fundamentals will need to be augmented with digital skills to meet the market and employer needs of the future.

Construction

The construction sector is facing huge pressure to access enough staff to deliver the ambitious housing, infrastructure and carbon net zero developments necessitated by national shortages.

About Apprenticeships identified that factors such as an ageing workforce, rising costs and the skills loss following Brexit have led to a sharp rise in skills shortages across construction. An estimated minimum of 244,000 completed construction apprenticeships will be needed to meet the growing demand by 2032. 

The key word here is “completed”. The AELP highlighted construction as a sector with a particularly low achievement rate, with the long duration of construction apprenticeships creating a common barrier to completion. 

Providers should be sure to explicitly define what the course entails to prospective construction apprentices, and be proactive in offering support throughout the course to reduce dropout rates.

Bud’s reporting dashboards make it easy to monitor learner progress, and identify those who are at risk of falling behind or dropping out. Early detection and working with the learner to overcome barriers are central to improving learner retention.

But people don’t just need to join and finish construction courses to fully address the skills gap – the content must be brought up to date with modern technologies, too. City & Guilds found key skills shortages in almost every LSIP report: retrofit, heat pump and modern methods of construction (MMC), related to more modular house-building developments. 

Digital apprenticeships

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, identifies that digital apprenticeships are essential for meeting the growing demand for skilled tech professionals in the UK. 

The organisation’s research highlighted that the number of digital apprentice opportunities available is nowhere close to meeting the current demand for these programmes – an imbalance that will only worsen as jobs rely more on digital technology, and employees seek to upskill in these areas. City & Guilds underlined a wider problem in that there is a lack of digital skills in all training programmes, given their prevalence in every industry. 

A good place to start for providers is to build digital skills into apprenticeship and training programmes to improve confidence and digital literacy, particularly for the 37% of young people who do not feel their digital skills are developed enough to get a good job.

Green skills

Global efforts to cut emissions and protect the environment will shape the jobs of the future. There’s an urgent need to upskill workforces, particularly to support the government’s green initiatives – but the skills and capabilities required are evolving quickly. This can make it hard to adapt training provision accordingly.

The green skills gap can be addressed by working directly with employers and responding to skills needs as they emerge. City & Guilds’ research identified an increased interest and commitment from employers to fund direct bridging and add-on skills courses that fulfil these immediate upskilling needs.

Meanwhile, research by the Institute for Apprenticeships uncovered that employer engagement with careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) in schools is limited – but 90% of the nearly 300 employers surveyed believed that employer involvement leads to more valuable qualifications for the workforce.

It’s clear that a healthy skills system going forward will be one that fosters increased employer involvement, and is as reactive as possible to bridge the skills gaps created by evolving industries and technological developments.

Deliver outstanding apprenticeships with Bud

Bud’s all-in-one training management system enables training providers to support learners from enrolment to end-point assessment.

Our intuitive platform provides a seamless experience that reduces the administrative burden, drives compliance and gives providers the tools they need to build a skilled and effective workforce.

Book a discovery call to find out how Bud can optimise your apprenticeship delivery.