More than 60 per cent of new jobs will require qualifications at degree-level87 delegates have already signed up to Warwickshire County Council’s popular annual Skills Conference taking place...
More than 60 per cent of new jobs will require qualifications at degree-level
87 delegates have already signed up to Warwickshire County Council’s popular annual Skills Conference taking place at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh Park, on Wednesday 6 March.
In a keynote speech, Warwickshire County Council’s head of Economy & Skills, Dave Ayton-Hill will deliver the latest local labour market forecasts compiled from new research undertaken by the county council.
The research underlines how workplaces, and the skills required within them, are changing rapidly in all sectors. During the coming years it is forecast that more than 60 per cent of new jobs to be created will require qualifications at degree-level - and 17 per cent at doctorate level.
The annual Skills Conference has become a highly-regarded event in the county's business calendar as it brings together a broad range of businesses and education-providers.
The County Council will outline a new careers strategy for Warwickshire residents which will cover: assisting those who may be looking for work or training; helping people progress their career within their existing role, or to switch jobs to progress. The strategy will also outline ways to make more of the Council’s unused apprenticeship levy* available for businesses. University and Further Education speakers will describe how they can work with employers to help them recruit to higher level jobs and also develop higher skills for existing employees. There will also be an emphasis on how businesses can attract and recruit the best young people straight from school sixth-forms.
Among the key speakers at the Skills Conference, which will begin with a buffet breakfast and networking session at 7.30am, will be Professor Pat Tissington, Academic Director of Employability and Skills, University of Warwick, Ian Smith-Childs, Headteacher, The Coleshill School, and Kerry McGreavy, Apprenticeship Manager, Coventry University. They will explain how local employers can work with them to promote job opportunities. For example, the Warwick Summer Internships Programme fully funds undergraduates to work for six weeks in SMEs and charities.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council said:
"Skills shortages is an issue which affects businesses in almost every sector. As a council, we are working hard on a number of initiatives to address this, in order to maintain, and improve, the flow of skilled young people coming into our workforce. For example, we are working with three further education colleges to increase the range of Degree and Higher Apprenticeships available. This will enable businesses to develop employees while they work. We are delighted that the universities will be taking part in this exciting conference. We also need to keep more of their talented graduates working in Warwickshire.”
Jayne Mourinho, Internships Development Officer at the University of Warwick, said: “The internships programme is a great opportunity for organisations to access additional resource or road-test talent."
Ian Smith-Childs, Headteacher at The Coleshill School, said: "An increasing number of our sixth-form students are very interested in going into high quality apprenticeships, or jobs with further training’ which enable them to continue their education to higher levels.
"More and more young people are considering this option instead of going to university in the light of increased fees and publicity about how many graduates are now underemployed in the workforce, ie. doing jobs for which a degree isn't required.
"There is a host of skills within sixth-form students across the county ready to be taken on and nurtured by business. The Skills Conference is a great way for the worlds of education and business to come together and find out what each other wants and can provide."
Delegates at the conference will also find out about schools with A-level students who are interested in finding jobs with the potential for development to higher levels when they leave in the summer of 2019.
The Skills Conference is a key element of Warwickshire County Council's £3 million Skills for Employment programme which has funded more than 40,000 careers and employability activities in more than 600 local businesses during the last four years.
To book your free place at the Skills Conference please visit here.
For further information please e-mail: skillsforemployment@warwickshire.gov.uk
*The apprenticeship levy is a levy on UK employers with a pay bill over £3 million per year to fund new apprenticeships for their employees.