CBI: UK needs an immigration and training rethink
Summary
The report predicted that as the economy recovers from the pandemic, all employees will need essential digital skills to use recently adopted technologies at work and to innovate. CBI research has estimated that nine out of 10 workers will need some form of reskilling by 2030 to ensure everyone is ready for a technology-enabled workplace and can benefit from increased job satisfaction and higher wages. With 11.7 million people in the UK lacking basic digital skills, the CBI said a step-change is needed in adult learning and upskilling. “Even though immigration rules have yet to change, the UK’s digital and innovation economy has already found it harder to attract the people and skills from overseas that it needs to thrive since the result of the EU referendum in 2016,” it said. It said these hubs should have two roles – providing rapid matching of people to new job opportunities, and sourcing high-quality training in areas of future demand in the local labour market.