Agenda
Welcome by techUK President
techUK’s vision for a Digital Britain
Labour market briefing - What is happening with employment in the tech sector?
Labour market briefing - What is happening with employment in the tech sector?
Panel
The lack of relevant digital skills in the labour market has been plaguing companies looking to hire for tech roles across a range of sectors. This is particularly acute in the context of rapid developments in AI, with AI-related roles now making up around a quarter of tech job listings but hiring managers struggling with staff training and finding qualified workers.
Although a challenging economic environment has seen a slowdown in hiring by some firms, it still takes around 6.5 weeks to fill a position in the IT and telecoms sector, and it remains to be seen if reported layoffs by some companies are reflected in wider sector trends.
In this session, our panel will discuss the jobs and employment landscape in the tech sector, what this means for recruitment as well as skills needs of businesses and the wider economy, and what steps the UK must take to ensure that businesses can meet their tech talent in order to innovate and grow.
Speakers
Creating an AI-ready workforce - How can we create the dynamic training and education ecosystem needed to equip the workforce for an AI-enabled future?
Creating an AI-ready workforce - How can we create the dynamic training and education ecosystem needed to equip the workforce for an AI-enabled future?
Panel
As AI changes work, workers will need the skills to work with, on, or alongside this technology. This will elevate the importance of technology and digital competence for workers, whilst increasing automation will put an emphasis on their less automatable human and soft skills. These soft skills, such as critical thinking and communication, and human expertise, including domain-specific and business knowledge, will be key to working with AI tools and their outputs in practice. However, most companies report an AI skills gap, with many noting a lack of both technical and soft skills.
Moreover, the skills need of the future economy is uncertain and evolving. AI will develop alongside other emerging technologies, changing work and jobs in new ways. Workers will therefore need access to the flexible lifelong learning and training opportunities that are best placed to support upskilling and job transitions in a dynamic future.
In this session, our panel will discuss how we can ensure the UK has the skills it needs now to capitalise on transformational technologies like AI, including the role of short modular courses and apprenticeships, and build an education and training ecosystem fit for the future.
Speakers
Dimple Khagram
Samantha Avanzo Windett
Rebecca Garrod-Waters
Oli De Botton
Improving student employability - Have we done our all to give students the tools they need to thrive in the future of world of work?
Improving student employability - Have we done our all to give students the tools they need to thrive in the future of world of work?
Panel
Have we done our all to give students the tools they need to thrive in the future of world of work?
Currently, the UK faces an employability skills gap as nearly 60% of adults lack the full set of core transferable skills. Higher education institutions are being held ever more accountable for their graduates’ employment prospects but there is a lack of clarity and standardisation regarding how this is achieved.
The last King’s Speech provoked some exasperated sighs around the sector due to the inclusion of the – by this point boilerplate – government aspiration to reduce the number of young people studying “poor-quality university degrees”. There wasn’t any new policy development here, and there remains a clear gap between rhetoric and action when it comes to ensuring that university degrees are setting students up for success at work and in the labour market.
In this session, our panellists will look at how tech businesses and higher education institutions can work together to support young people from all walks of life to enter the thriving tech sector. They will discuss how learning can adapt to tech-powered change, including the role of degree apprenticeships and accreditation, and what actionable steps policymakers to ensure students are given the tools they need to thrive in the future world of work.
Speakers
Naureen Khan
Lorna Willis
Nick Drouet
Dr Asieh Hosseini Tabaghdehi
James Uffindell
Breaking down barriers to opportunity - How can job creation and skills development be more evenly distributed across different regions of the UK?
Breaking down barriers to opportunity - How can job creation and skills development be more evenly distributed across different regions of the UK?
Panel
The increasing digitalisation of the economy will be key in driving job and earning opportunities for people across the UK over the coming years. In the UK, jobs that require employees to use digital competences pay 29% higher than roles that do not, and job vacancies that require 10 or more digital skills pay 48% higher salaries than those requiring no digital skills. But more must be done to support people across the country to access career opportunities in digital and tech roles.
According to the Fabian Society, almost half of new jobs growth in England has been in London and the South East since 2010, compared to just 2% in the North East. A report by the IFS found that more than 40% of UK graduate workers outside of London are working jobs that don’t require a degree noting that, whilst employment in high-paying occupations like tech has grown by 95% nationally since 1993, these jobs have emerged primarily in London.
And although in recent years we have seen a growth in tech jobs in many metropolitan areas outside of London, their concentration of tech jobs still lags behind the capital, and many parts of the country – particularly outside of cities – are lagging even further behind.
techUK’s Local Digital Index shows that some places and regions are better placed to realise the benefits of technology than others. Our analysis found that regions with high levels of digital adoption and employment were those that scored well across other areas such as digital skills, infrastructure and R&D. Notably, this chimes with further research by the IFOW that suggests place-based factors such as access to good digital infrastructure and education provision are key to creating more high quality jobs as AI and automation technologies are adopted.
In this session, the panel will discuss how we can ensure that people in every part of the UK can access well-paid tech jobs. They will explore the regional factors that impact tech job creation, how different places across the UK are positioned to capitalise on tech transformations, and what steps policymakers must take to drive the opportunities of technology into every part of the country.
Speakers
Good work - How can we harness technology to solve the UK’s productivity puzzle?
Good work - How can we harness technology to solve the UK’s productivity puzzle?
Panel
Boosting productivity will be a critical challenge for the UK economy over the coming years. Since the 2008 financial crisis, productivity growth across most developed nations slowed, but the UK was more affected than others and continues to lag behind its peers. Much can be explained by a persistent lack of investment – whether in technology or people – that risks further harming UK competitiveness as productivity-boosting technologies like AI are adopted by firms across developed economies.
Businesses will need support to make their organisations fit for the 21st century, and responsibly adopt these technologies in a way that supports workers and boosts productivity. Workers in different parts of organisations will use and experience the use of technology in different ways, and research suggests that good management practices play a key role in translating tech innovations into productivity gains.
Indeed, workplace technologies and innovations are already posing new challenges for businesses. The increased prevalence of business and workforce data has implications for how organisations interact with and manage their workforce. A growth in flexible work has raised new businesses challenges around managing a hybrid workforce. The changing nature of jobs has implications for job displacement, upskilling and retraining policy. And advancements in technologies like AI pose questions around how to effectively deploy this technology across different business roles and functions.
In this session, panellists will discuss how the UK can leverage workplace technology to drive productivity growth and create good work. They will discuss how we can stimulate business investment across the economy and drive the adoption of new technologies like AI in a way that balances innovation with protecting workers’ rights. The panel will also explore what steps we must take to deliver on the productivity promise of technology adoption and the role of government in helping businesses and workers to navigate a changing world of work.
Speakers
Anna Thomas
Professor Jacqueline O'Reilly
Mary Towers
Patrick Brodie
