Central government attaches enormous importance to skills policy as the driver of everything from economic growth to social justice. Yet whether improving the nation’s skills creates social justice and helps businesses to grow will depend on how employers use people’s skills, whether qualifications provide the skills that match the needs of the labour market, and the extent to which skills policy is co-ordinated with other relevant policy areas.

The UK’s flexible labour market, with high numbers of part-time and temporary jobs, can facilitate entry into work for disadvantaged groups. But reforms have also contributed to a market failure in many sectors, removing incentives for employers to invest in workforce skills and to retain staff. While skills gaps are a problem in some key growth sectors, in many low paid sectors the issue is poor utilisation of skills by employers, and consequently low productivity. As a result a fifth of the UK workforce is low-paid, and millions of people work in low skilled jobs that offer poor opportunities for stability or progression.

IPPR will outline the key challenges and overall vision for skills policy. We will scrutinise the impact of labour market flexibility on workers, skills and productivity and explore how to create career ladders for people in low skilled, low productivity jobs. We will examine what the institutional framework for skills that generates commitment and collective cost-sharing from employers, the state and individuals should look like.

The project is sponsored by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.