The Trades Union Congress has launched a new initiative bringing together unions, employers and education providers to develop a long-term strategy aimed at addressing growing skills shortages across the UK workforce.
The 2050 Skills Project will bring together organisations including Make UK, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Association of Colleges to develop proposals designed to improve workforce skills, support productivity and help businesses adapt to technological change.
The initiative comes as concerns grow over the UK’s ability to equip workers for a labour market being reshaped by artificial intelligence, the transition to net zero and demographic change. Alongside the project, the TUC has launched a call for evidence from workers, employers and education providers to inform its recommendations.
The union body argues that years of underinvestment have weakened the UK’s skills system. Public spending on adult skills in England remains around 30 per cent below its level in the early 2000s, while funding for classroom-based adult education has fallen by around two-thirds. Nearly three in 10 further education colleges are operating in deficit.
Regional disparities also remain significant. More than a quarter of adults in the West Midlands have qualifications below GCSE level, compared with fewer than one in 10 in West London. At the same time, almost 9 million adults lack essential literacy, numeracy or digital skills.
The TUC said the challenge was becoming more acute as employers increased investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies. It cited research showing that 67 per cent of employers view workforce technical skills as a barrier to adopting AI.
Despite recent government measures, including the creation of Skills England, apprenticeship reforms and a renewed industrial strategy, the TUC argues that further action is needed. Around one million young people remain outside education, employment or training, while apprenticeship starts among 16 to 24-year-olds have fallen by 40 per cent over the past decade. Employer spending on training also remains around half the European Union average.
Polling commissioned by the TUC found that 70 per cent of people support introducing a legal right to lifelong training.
Paul Nowak, the TUC’s general secretary, said the UK faced a “persistent skills crisis” and argued that greater investment in lifelong learning would be essential if workers and businesses were to adapt to technological change and support long-term economic growth.
