Skilling London
Skills needs to be at the heart of recovery when it comes and that’s why BusinessLDN (formerly London First) has continued to be very active on this agenda throughout the pandemic, both in our advocacy and policy development. Today, BusinessLDN launched their new Skilling London report in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group. Arising from a series of member and stakeholder roundtables, Skilling London identifies a set of pragmatic changes that will not only help the capital recover after the coronavirus pandemic, but thrive in the longer term. It calls for a step change in collaboration between business, education (schools, FE, HE) and government and action in three key areas:
- Building the skills London needs to be future fit – from establishing a London-specific careers strategy and adult retraining scheme, to increasing business support to help build transferable skills in Londoners
- Removing barriers to a reskilling and up-skilling revolution – from incentivising businesses to increase their investment in developing skills for the future, to enhancing recruitment practices and improved profiling of female and BAME role models
- Working together to keep London skilled – from increasing the share of business voice at the Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Board, to devolving skills powers and funding to London and other UK cities
Mark Hilton, executive director of people at the business campaigning group BusinessLDN, said that it was vital that the London skills system helped to train and reskill displaced workers.
“There has long been a lack of transferable and digital skills in school leavers, as well as a need for a strategy for lifelong learning and reskilling,” he said. “This is now of crucial importance for our recovery and the future success of our capital. All parties – businesses, education and government – must now work together to ensure that future generations are not left behind.”
BusinessLDN has set out a raft of actions to help revive the capital and its economy, including getting children back to school, employees returning to work, and the critical need for reskilling support. The full report available for download here.