This report, the second in a series of publications, explores the level of estimated skills needs in UK businesses alongside the level and type of training that employers provide.
The analysis combines domestic labour market microdata with international survey evidence and job postings data to provide a comprehensive picture of training activity and skills demand. To understand key growth sectors in the UK where there is significant need for retraining and upskilling, the research is focused on financial and business services; creative, digital and design; clean technologies; and information and communications. These industries are strategically significant for productivity and competitiveness, and their evolving skill needs are a critical test of whether the UK’s workforce system can adapt to structural change.
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Learning and Work Institute and the Universities of Strathclyde and Ulster are working together to explore how UK employers make decisions about training, and how employees are responding to the need to upskill and retrain in a transitioning economy. This is a multi-year project, due to be completed in May 2026.
