Changing Skills Needs

The trends in the changing profile of sectors that we have seen in recent years, in common with most developed countries, will continue for the foreseeable future. By 2020, the services and high value added manufacturing sectors will have increased in relative importance, while traditional manufacturing and agriculture will continue to decline. This shift to services will pose a significant productivity challenge for policymakers and for enterprise alike.
At occupational level, the greatest increases in employment are expected to occur in the ‘professional’,‘associate professional’ and ‘personal & service’ occupational groupings.
Employees in all jobs will be increasingly required to acquire a range of generic and transferable skills including people-related and conceptual/thinking skills. Work will be less routine, with a requirement for flexibility, continuous learning, and individual initiative and judgement.
The Enterprise Strategy Group emphasised the importance of R&D, innovation and marketing skills. All occupations will become more knowledge-intensive, resulting in many cases in a rise in the requirement for qualifications and technical knowledge.
Science, Engineering, ICT and R&D skills are an integral part of a knowledge-based economy and their promotion remains important.