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What skills will England need over the next decade?

17 March 2010

The report of the first National Strategic Skills Audit has been launched by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. IES played a major part in the project in authoring the draft report for the Commission, which drew on a range of quantitative sources of labour market information and synthesised findings from 35 reports to identify future skills needs for England at national, sectoral and regional levels.

Dr Annette Cox, Associate Director of Workplace Performance and Skills, who led the research at IES, commented:

‘The audit shows a really interesting mix of skills needs. On the one hand these are in some of the newer sectors including those for software professionals and creative, IT literate employees in the digital media economy. High level STEM skills will be required for sophisticated manufacturing businesses developing increasingly complex products and services and for some organisations operating in the low carbon economy. On the other hand, there is a continuing shortage of management and customer care skills which vary by sector. Some existing jobs will also continue to experience high levels of demand, such as care workers and professionals in the health and social care sectors.’

Further information

• Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow: The National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010, Volume 1, Key Findings
• Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow: The National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010, Volume 2: The Evidence Report
• UKCES press release

For further information or comment, contact Annette Cox or call +44(0)1273 763 413, or the IES press office, or on 01273 763414.