The gradual reopening of the economy means vacancies are now above pre-pandemic levels across the country, providing a more helpful context for the hard work of recovery.
However, recovery will be a multi-year task. Unemployment has risen and long-term unemployment is rising significantly. There’s much more to do to link those out of work with the jobs available, including supporting retraining
for those needing to change career. I gave evidence this week to the House of Lords Youth Unemployment Committee on the need for better skills and employment support for young people.
Plus we simply don’t know whether
pre-pandemic working patterns will return, or whether greater remote working and online shopping are here to stay – the answer to this is crucial for policy and for how to ‘level up’ opportunity. Look out for forthcoming L&W research on this.
Meantime, the things we needed to focus on before the pandemic haven’t gone away including:
good work and progression: our Better Work Network published
research on what good work means to low paid Londoners.
employment for disabled people: this was lower than for non-disabled people before the pandemic and our research shows they’ve been hit harder by the crisis.
Reversing the decade-long decline in participation in learning, with greater public and employer investment, including rebalancing support so those that could benefit most receive it.
Paved with gold? Views on job quality in the capital A new Better Work Network paper looks at the priorities for employment in London and presents the key findings of original polling conducted by YouGov with Londoners on their perceptions and priorities for work. The paper explores how the coronavirus pandemic has affected Londoners’ work and wellbeing, what good work means, barriers to better work and what
Londoners’ priorities are for the Mayor of London over the next three years.
Disability Employment: from pandemic to recovery Our new report with The Black Stork Charity looks at the impact of the pandemic on the employment, pay and finances of disabled people. The research found that disabled people have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. By the end of 2020, disabled people were more than twice as likely to be long-term unemployed compared to non-disabled people, and that disabled people were 60% more
likely to lose their job since the start of the first lockdown.
Local Government Association – Top Tips for a Jobs and Skills Recovery The Local Government Association has created a new employment and skills learning hub which includes a number of resources to help councils understand and develop their thinking around employment and skills programmes as lockdown restrictions ease. Learning and Work Institute contributed a series of briefings covering:
Basic skills and capabilities
Economic shocks and opportunities
Lon-term unemployment
Retraining
Youth unemployment
A more ambitious Net Zero ‘Economic, Jobs and Skills’ Plan How can post-16 education, skills and employment policy support the race to net-Zero in the UK? Our chief exec, Stephen Evans has contributed an essay to Campaign for Learning’s new essay collection offering insights and recommendations on this theme. The full collection, including Stephen’s article, is available here.
We’re hiring! In order to help us continue to deliver this important range of work, we’re currently recruiting for the following roles:
Our offices are based in London and Leicester but location is flexible. As a Silver Investors in People award holder, we are committed to building a great place to work. We are a friendly and supportive team, passionate and enthusiastic about our work. We support each other to develop and flourish. Find out more about the roles and apply before the deadlines.
Adult Learners’ Week - Innovation Fund Grants of up to £750 are available to organisations working in Wales who deliver lifelong learning. Activity can be delivered throughout the month of September 2021. This grant fund is intended to support the creation of free bitesize tasters, learning events, outreach activity, or podcasts. Closing date: 5 July 2021.
Adult Learners’ Week website launch We have launched our campaign website! We’re inviting adult learning provisions across Wales to join our Adult Learners’ Week campaign (20 – 26 September 2021). This is a fantastic opportunity to promote your provision, celebrate your learners and raise awareness of the many benefits of adult learning. Learning providers can add their courses, events and resources to the platform, such as webinars, taster sessions, open days and outreach events.
Events
Employment and Skills Convention 2021 | Recovery and renewal
Thursday 1 July 2021 | 09.30am – 1.30pm | Online The coronavirus pandemic has triggered the sharpest fall in economic output since records began. Despite unprecedented intervention to support businesses and jobs, we have seen a record rise in redundancies and rising unemployment. The crisis has both highlighted and deepened pre-existing inequalities in the labour market, making the government’s levelling up agenda even more challenging.
As we start
to emerge from the pandemic, this year’s Employment and Skills Convention will consider how we can drive the recovery after the crisis.
Festival of Learning 2021 Awards Ceremony Tuesday 6 July | 6.00pm | Online On Tuesday 6 July, we will be announcing our award winners at an online awards ceremony. Join us from 6.00pm to discover some inspirational individuals, providers and tutors that have transformed their lives and the lives of others through learning. Register your interest.
