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... data is the new gold , enabling companies to make informed real-time decisions and actions
And , with 83 percent of bosses saying they would take up the opportunity of modularized training if funding was in place , there is a growing appetite for this form of training .
With the new Labour Government introducing Skills England to the landscape , there is an opportunity to shape how future spending could be directed and this will require a joint approach from employers and training providers . We need to make our collective voices heard .
Reshoring – failing before it starts ?
Last year , we reported that just 28 percent of manufacturers have enjoyed reshoring success and , despite a campaign to promote the virtues of bringing work home , this figure has decreased to just 18 percent in 2024 .
Nearly half continue to state that they don ’ t have the skills they need to make reshoring happen , which poses the question ‘ what can we do to change this ’?
There is a big piece of work to be completed here ; firstly , to understand what bringing work home looks like and then what support UK companies need to do to make this happen .
This could be from the perspective of nearshoring their own supply chains or taking advantage of global customers looking to move work away from China , India and other volatile areas of the world .
Skills and the whole productivity discussion will be so important here in deciding whether businesses want to battle for reshoring work or if it is actually easier to win work in domestic supply chains .
Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) – not in the training game yet
The impact of AI on skills doesn ’ t appear to be having a big impact on the 113 companies surveyed in our barometer . Just six percent of firms admit to embracing Artificial Intelligence to boost their skills , which isn ’ t surprising .
Whilst supply chains and backoffice processes seem to be the main early adopters , there is still some way to go to educate businesses on how it can be used to develop workforces and support upskilling .
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