The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Inspiring Talent Group was set up to support Chamber members in the area of talent and skills development and retention. The committee is comprised of representatives from both education and a wide range of business sectors. The role of the committee is to consult on long term skills and talent needs, understand the changing skills and talent picture through COVID, Brexit, and the City Region deal, as well as understanding the challenges for different sectors.

It’s obvious that the last 18 months has challenged everyone and there are some inspiring stories that have emerged from the difficulties of the lockdown period. In January of this year we ran an on-line “Inspiring Stories” event with the Chamber’s Inspiring Communities group, where we heard how different organisations, including businesses and charities, had adapted their working models to support their colleagues, individuals and other organisations during the lockdown period. Over the last few months we have been working towards building an agenda based on the collective experiences of those Chamber members represented on the Inspiring Talent committee. Some of the subjects being discussed are longstanding issues affecting talent recruitment (e.g. equality and diversity), others are solutions developed during the pandemic to make common activities more efficient and effective during the pandemic, but can still be used during and after the recovery (e.g. virtual work placements).

Recent data from Skills Development Scotland indicates that employment in Edinburgh has been significantly affected during the pandemic. For example, despite an average annual increase of over 1,300 over the last decade, the accommodation and food sector saw an average annual decline in employment of 3000 over the last two years. However, other sectors have seen employment increase over the same period, especially in health and social care. Additionally, job postings in Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian for the year to 31st May 2021 were only down 0.5% on the previous year, with the most common postings in software development, IT and nursing and care. The biggest demand for jobs over the next three years is predicted to be in human health and social work, accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail, arts and entertainment, education, and administrative and support services.

In Scotland nearly 60% of organisations said they find it more difficult to recruit in the last six months compared to the same period last year, and in the latest Open University Business Barometer nearly a third of decision makers reported spending more on recruitment in the last 12 months. A large fraction of Scottish employers (33%) say they have not been able to fill existing vacancies because of Brexit, and just over 60% say there is a skills shortage in their organisation. Particular skills that seemed to be lacking range from industry-specific skills to data analysis, leadership and management, and soft skills including team working.

We are also aware that “conscious consumerism” is spreading to the world of work. Not only are individuals looking more at the consumer habits around environmental impact, sustainability and social justice, they are looking for these credentials in future employers. This is unlikely to be a passing trend.

The Scottish Government, through the Scottish Funding Council, are providing Upskilling Funding and National Transition Training Funding to Scotland’s universities to support short course (CPD, standalone short courses and modules) to address the skills shortages experienced by companies in Scotland. Information is available through the universities.

Over the coming months the Edinburgh Chamber’s Inspiring Talent Group will publish a series of blogs to raise awareness, to invite comment and discussion in some of the areas that we feel would interest Chamber members. We would be happy to hear from members on other issues.