West London Skills Summit 2023
On the 25th of January, the West London Skills Summit was held to help inform the debate and planning for London’s Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP). This was a fantastic forum for gathering input from industry, trainers, and intermediaries to share thoughts, ideas and challenges involved with matching skills between business and individuals, and upskilling those same individuals for the roles available across the region.
Attending on behalf of Libra Careers I was fascinated to hear the differing views and efforts of those in attendance. With unemployment still near record lows in the area, making sure that those in work are able to work as efficiently as possible becomes all the more important.
West London Skills Summit 2023
The day split out into sector breakouts. Interestingly, many of the sectors, from retail to health and logistics, were focused on how to attract new talent to the industry. Retail is lacking in older talent. Logistics in turn is lacking in younger talent. When the labour market is tight, it inspires businesses to search for the right skills wherever they can.
West London Skills Summit 2023
The afternoon session was skills-centric. Green skills had featured heavily in discussions throughout the day and in joining this session I was interested to see the increase in green job vacancies in the past 24 months across West London jobs boards. This is yet to be matched by an increase in green-related skills mentioned on CVs. This is surely an area of focus for training providers and individuals. Initiatives such as the West London Green Skills Hub are already helping.
West London Skills Summit 2023
Overall, I have to say the summit was a roaring success. There are fantastic initiatives already underway but in the continuing tight labour market, further work is needed to match, train and retain top talent.
Oscar Hardy
CEO