Welcome to Skills Street
Meet our new Business Development Manager, James Beighton, as he explores why he has joined Skills Street and it’s importance for the future of education.
Investing in the workforce of the future
What if businesses and educators worked together to make careers education fun? Hands up, who knows what they would like to be when they grow up ... and better still, where to begin to get there? As I start life as Development Manager of what will become a game changer for South Yorkshire, I think back to my working life journey and what it could have looked like with more awareness of jobs and practical skills at an earlier stage of my education. I reached my mid-twenties before I stared to become curious to find out what goes on behind the windows of the businesses on my doorstep. The logo’s, I recognised, the buildings I’m familiar with but what happens when doors open for business – I had no idea. A Sales Assistant turned Journalist who fell into recruitment and made his way across the business engagement world, now finds himself here, working for a community interest company built out of a theme park in Rotherham, why ... because this is transformative, this is Skills Street!
How soon is now - a gap or a need?
“South Yorkshire, let’s do our best not to miss this!”
Ever said, "yes, I know what you mean", and then spent the next 5 minutes googling what it actually meant? Now, imagine you can't Google. There's a growing disparity between skills that employers expect their employees to have and the actual skills that our workforce possess. 61% of businesses surveyed recently by Sheffield Chamber of Commerce reported difficulties with recruitment. Almost three quarters of respondents from a network of pro-active and connected businesses are telling us that its increasingly difficult to find the right people. Filling vacancies will always be difficult if we continue to adopt the same strategy. It's imperative that we start to do things differently and mobilise a regional workforce to not only boost technical capability but recognise development of the things that matter the most to people, soft skills - confidence, creativity, aspiration and ambition.
When a global pandemic sped up an already widening multi-sector skills gap, we had no choice but to work differently. We pushed reset on the business clock, putting productivity in place of presenteeism and re-defining organisational culture and values behind job descriptions. When people came first, new jobs and opportunities were created. Skills Street is our opportunity to stop pricing ourselves out of the future jobs market, meeting skills gaps and needs with longer term solutions for business – South Yorkshire, let’s do our best not to miss this!
Where do we need people? Let's start with The Home Office list of significant national skills shortages;
Health services and care workers
Engineers
IT and Data professionals
Software engineers and programmers
Construction workers and Architects
Creative professionals (Artists, Musicians, Dancers)
Graphic Designers
Skilled Trades (Bricklayers, Plasterers, Welders)
If the eight areas above are our mission statement, we have regional capability to make a tangible impact across associated professions and now is 100% our time to shout about it. South Yorkshire is one big STEAM lesson waiting to be delivered. We have over 330,000 school age pupils, with over 540 schools. Add in world leading global manufacturing heritage, the largest group of policy maker professionals and largest regional theatre complex outside of London, two fantastic Universities – one a leader in advanced research and technologies, the other a provider of over 1,000 new Teachers into education and 3,000 students on health-related degrees each year, the city of makers … all of this within an 8 mile radius of Skills Street yet we often struggle to tell enough of a story to spark an interest amongst those entering the job market. Let’s not start the impossible task of rebuilding ‘what we had’ but work together as sectors to develop and nurture talent.
A skills innovation ecosystem:
“A framework for responsible recruitment”
Never underestimate the collaborative power of industry. As a multidisciplinary world of work careers and training experience , Skills Street will feature 15 industry sector zones codesigned by businesses and educators who understand the needs of respective markets. We are creating a framework for responsible recruitment, impacting over 16,000 learners, school pupils and members of the community in our first operational year. This is a chance for organisations to position their brand differently, amongst the audience we are all looking towards for the answers to future skills needs and to drive forward the creation of a responsive regional economy.
At the top end, Skills Street will support students who are making GCSE option choices, helping learners to visualise pathways into post-16 education and employment. It is important however, to recognise that we have an ageing workforce. Sheffield alone is only 11 years away from 1 in 5 of its residents being over the age of 65. To place this in context, a 10 year old South Yorkshire pupil currently studying in primary school is potentially only 6 years from seeking full time employment. Our current workforce has to take a more widespread approach to championing the reality of industry and simply what it’s like to work.
A consistent strategy:
“A sense of ‘why’ and ‘so what’ at the end of it”.
This is not a quick fix. The UK education system has an increasing amount of boxes to tick whilst the growing list of external demands on industry make for a contradiction in agendas. One system fighting fires to remain operational, the other stripping out creativity and expression in a search for uniformity and a benchmark for what’s deemed attainment and success. We have to do more to contextualise learning, to make what’s happening in the classroom relatable in communities where it’s becoming increasingly hard for the next generation to develop aspiration.
Nationally, government educational data shows that 59% of pupils are meeting expected standards in reading, writing and maths combined. Locally, the Yorkshire and Humber region remained the lowest performing region for reading last year (2022). This doesn’t mark the end of job and career prospects. Skills Street will bring purpose, allowing learners to put a relatable meaning to studying subject areas at every stage of education. Imagine a venue that not only shows what’s involved in industry and showcases job profiles but helps to map out and provide routes into employment with the foresight of knowing how to get there? All of a sudden, Maths, Science, Literacy become a lot more attractive to an eleven year old if there’s a sense of ‘why’ and ‘so what’ at the end of it. Yes, school and further education, formal qualifications and University are not for everyone, but seeing value in applying learning is universal.
So, what next …
My ask of the business community ... start the conversation today about operational skills challenges and training needs. Be honest about the gaps in your organisation and how you could do things differently to attract and retain talent. This is our head start in piecing things together, to create a regional identity that places South Yorkshire as a trailblazer for how industry and education can make a lasting impression on economic and social prosperity of the region. Start now, start here.
