Capital College launches new report on the region’s labour market

Edinburgh College has this week launched a new report aimed at better understanding employer perspectives on the region’s labour market and skills system and examining the College’s own role in supporting employers with the ongoing recruitment and upskilling challenges they face.

The report, entitled Our Capital, Our Workforce, draws on the results of a 30-question survey carried out with employers across the region, as well as in-depth interviews with a smaller group of employers that explored issues around recruitment, retention and skills policy in more depth.

A number of key findings emerged from the report which indicate that although labour markets are “cooling”, skills gaps continue to cause issues for employers across the region, with 88% of those surveyed reporting that some of their vacancies are hard to fill due to difficulties finding applicants with the required skills, knowledge and/or experience. While only 35% of respondents were confident that their organisations will be able to recruit the right people in the year ahead.

The report also compares the extent of these challenges between industries, explores the effect they are having on business performance and examines the impact of policy changes like the ending of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund.

Over the past seven years, the College has trained more than 10,000 employees and continues to tackle workforce challenges with tailored programs, supporting more than 200 businesses annually. As a provider of 2,000 apprenticeships each year, Edinburgh College is committed to empowering businesses and building a workforce ready for tomorrow.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Michael Jeffrey Vice Principal at Edinburgh College said:

“This new report aims to provide a snapshot of the current skills needs of our region, an insight into the workforce challenges employers are having now (and foresee in the future), and a discussion of how we at Edinburgh College are orientating ourselves to support employers in our region to thrive into the future. 

What comes through strongly from our results is that the last five years have precipitated an even greater pace of change in the nature of work and the future skills needs of our economy. It suggests that the need to upskill our workforce and to drive up economic productivity through innovation has never been greater. 

We will use the findings to inform our approach as we continue to deepen our ties with employers across all areas of our work from curriculum design, through to apprenticeships and the provision of bespoke upskilling and reskilling courses.

I’d like to thank all employer partners who gave their time to participate in this research and I look forward to engaging with colleagues around the results as we continue to work together towards our shared goals for the region’s future economic prosperity.”

You can read the full report here and a summary of the report findings here.