Unions Launch Skills Training Initiative

The TUC has launched a new skills initiative bringing together unions, employers, and education providers to tackle Britain’s deepening skills crisis.

2050 Skills Project is a 12-month initiative to set out practical recommendations to secure a new workplace skills settlement and lay the foundations for a tripartite-led skills system.

It brings together stakeholders from across the skills system including unions, employer bodies, Make UK, and the British Chambers of Commerce, and the Association of Colleges.

A call for evidence is asking for the real experiences of working people, the needs of business, and the views of those delivering and shaping skills on the ground.

The TUC said Britain is at a “pivotal moment” and must urgently prepare the UK workforce for a rapidly changing labour market.

Skills Challenge

The organisation says the skills crisis has been caused by years of government underinvestment, falling investment by employers, a failure to listen to workers, and a skills system that is struggling to keep pace with the speed of technological change:

• Under investment: Public spending on adult skills in England is still around 30% below its early‑2000s peak, while funding for classroom-based adult learning has fallen by around two-thirds. Nearly 3 in 10 further education colleges are in deficit.
• Regional divides: Regional inequalities are also widening with 27% of adults in the West Midlands having below GCSE-level qualifications, compared with just 9% in West London.
• Basic skills: Basic skills gaps remain widespread with nearly 9 million adults lacking essential literacy, numeracy and digital skills – just as demand for skills is rising rapidly. Jobs key to delivering the Industrial Strategy are projected to grow by almost 25%, equivalent to 1.8 million additional roles over the next decade.
• Technological change. As AI is rolled out across the economy, two-thirds (67%) of employers say workforce technical skills are now a major barrier.

The TUC warns these gaps are holding back both workforce participation and economic growth.

More Needed

Recent actions have set the scene for better skills training, such as the Industrial Strategy, the creation of Skills England, apprenticeship reforms, the Millburn Review on youth inactivity and the AI Skills Boost pledge.

However, despite the renewed focus on skills:

• 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
• Apprenticeship starts among 16–24-year-olds have fallen by 40% over the past decade – a drop of more than 113,000 compared with 2015/16.
• More than half of apprenticeships now go to over‑25s and many are taken by existing employees.

At the same time workers already in the labour market are being left behind. As AI, net zero and wider technological change reshape jobs, access to lifelong learning is becoming essential.

Yet UK employers invest around half the EU average in training, and graduates are three times more likely to receive in-work training than non‑graduates.

Right to Train

New TUC polling of more than 4,000 people shows strong backing (70%) for a legal right to lifelong training.

The 2050 Skills Project aims to develop a strategy to help workers to access training throughout their lives. It also aims to help businesses adapt to economic and technological change and support long-term productivity and growth.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Britain is being held back by a persistent skills crisis. That’s why unions, employers and skills experts are coming together through Skills 2050 to build a shared vision for a UK workforce that can adapt, thrive and drive growth.”

With support from the British Chambers of Commerce and Make UK, the Association of Colleges is also backing the initiative and hopes to see a long-term government strategy which builds on skills training for adults of all ages.

>> Read more about skills & training in the news