IPPR Scotland warns skills system needs overhaul to be fit for the future

Skills - Image credit: Dods library

Scotland’s skills training system in Scotland needs reform to be fit the future, an economic think tank is warning.

IPPR Scotland says that technological and demographic changes, as well as weaker economic growth, will alter the economy and society.

It suggests this will mean people working for longer, in multiple careers and for multiple employers, but says the skills system is not ready for this challenge and needs to reform to be able to do so.

The IPPR Scotland report, Equipping Scotland for the Future, calls for a number of changes.

These include an outcome-based approach and “clear national purpose”, clarification of routes into the skills system, more regional integration and increased transferability.

IPPR Scotland director Russell Gunson said: “The skills system in Scotland needs help to deliver the economy that Scotland needs.

“In the short term there are weaknesses in Scotland’s economy around pay, progression and productivity that the skills system can help to address.

“In the long term, with demographic change and technological change likely to see a very different world of work, we must make the decisions now that prepare us for this future.”