Developing skills for the sustainable economy: STEM subjects stay at the top of the agenda for business

Business in the Community (BITC) and Andreas Goss, chief executive, Siemens plc, mobilises top UK business leaders on behalf of HRH The Prince of Wales to tackle the threatening skills gap faced by the British economy. 

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Senior decision-makers from some of the UK’s biggest employers were visiting Newham today as part of The Prince’s Seeing is Believing, a programme run by charity Business in the Community to promote and develop responsible business leadership.

Some of the companies present included London Gateway, Carillion Infrastructure Services, Viridor Waste Management and Shanks Group.

Together, these companies employ thousands of individuals in the country in jobs requiring high levels of training in science, engineering, technology and maths. Today, they are facing a major challenge. By 2014, the UK will need an extra 730,000 people with STEM qualifications compared to 2007 (CBI), both to replace an aging workforce and fill up the new roles arising in the green economy.   

To set the tone for the day, Andreas Goss, chief executive, chose the Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre. Located in London’s Green enterprise District, the building epitomizes Siemens’ commitment to creating sustainable cities. In his introduction, Andreas openly shared with his peers the story of his company’s journey and its vision in addressing the skills challenge. He said:

“We understand that the skills gap is a substantial risk to our future growth. Organisations face an ageing workforce. Many of these very experienced employees will retire over the next decade. There also appears to be reluctance among young people to enter into engineering, particularly at apprentice and technician level. It is a challenge we have to meet collectively, not just at Siemens but throughout UK manufacturing and engineering companies.”

As part of the visit, business delegates visited Newham College of Further Education. In July 2010, the London Capital Colleges’ Skills for Climate Change project, part-financed by the European Social Fund, launched a report highlighting current low carbon skills shortages and gaps in training provision in London’s construction and built environment sector. The report revealed a total estimated annual training capacity shortfall of 5,500 – 13,000, in particular in technologies. From then, the call to action - to spur regeneration and economic development through innovation and collaborative approaches - has been led by Newham College of Further Education on behalf of London Capital Colleges. Today, Skills for Climate Change is a fast growing network of both private and public sector organisations, at regional and transnational levels, to support the development and delivery of learning and skills to the construction and building services sectors.

Finally, the day ended at Little Ilford Comprehensive School where business leaders were introduced to the charismatic Famida Noor Mohamed, Pastoral Achievement Leader for Year 10, car fanatic and leader of the only after school engineering club in Newham, London. Over the past 7 years, Famida has been transmitting her passion onto her students, inspiring them to become the engineers and scientists of the future. Famida is a female Muslim South African who fully understands the struggles caused by gender and cultural inequality in her community. She is proud to talk about her students’ achievements.

Ian Bowman, Head of Sustainability, Siemens plc said “Today’s seven year old children are the apprentices, undergraduates and graduates we will be recruiting in the next decade and beyond. If we want the best then we need to start getting the message across now.”   

Today’s visit highlights just how important the skills agenda is to both individual businesses and UK plc as a whole.

Peter Lambert, deputy chief executive, Business in the Community said: “Ensuring that UK companies have the right people with the right skills to meet current and future needs is a crucial concern and one that can only be tackled through effective partnerships with the education sector. This visit is a great example of how powerful such collaboration can be and we look forward to working with delegates as they take this agenda forward in their respective organisations.”