UK Unveils Skills Training Initiative to Reduce Reliance on Migration

Prime Minister Keir Starmer today announced the launch of Skills England, a new skills training organisation aimed at reducing the UK’s dependence on overseas workers. Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow, Starmer emphasized the need to address long-term skills shortages and boost productivity.

Starmer highlighted the current gap in skills training as a key factor contributing to the UK’s reliance on migration. “Many young people have been let down by a lack of skills training, creating an overreliance on migration within our economy,” he said. “We cannot continue to depend on importing skills while neglecting our own workforce.”

Skills England will collaborate with the Migration Advisory Committee to identify and address current and future skills gaps. This initiative aims to bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers, and unions to provide strategic oversight of the skills system for those over 16.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the valuable contributions of migrant workers to the UK but stressed the importance of creating opportunities for domestic workers. “I do not criticise businesses who hire overseas workers and I certainly don’t diminish the contribution that migration makes to our economy, to our public services, and of course to our communities,” Starmer stated. “Yet, as a system, it cannot be right that some people don’t get to feel the pride of making a contribution, the dignity of work, just because we can’t find a way of creating a coherent skill system.”

With the UK experiencing record net migration levels, reaching 764,000 in 2022, Starmer emphasized the urgency of the initiative. “It is right that we get migration down. It’s too high. That’s why Skills England will be working on this issue to ensure we have the skills in place to bring those levels down.”

The Education Ministry noted that skills shortages in the UK doubled to more than half a million between 2017 and 2022, accounting for over a third of job vacancies. A third of productivity improvements over the last two decades can be attributed to improvements in skills levels.