Building Strong Foundations in Our Workforce

The full impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on business is yet to be seen, but employment has fallen and unemployment predicted to increase further and remain above pre-crisis levels until 2023/24.
Hardest hit are the sectors most affected by lockdown such as hospitality and retail and it is becoming increasingly clear that low skilled workers and young people that make up the majority of the workforce in these organisations are now seeking new employment outside of their current skill set.
So what is being done to help?
The Government has already responded with a range of policies including the furlough scheme, Kickstart, and the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. These have limited the falls in employment and have the potential to speed up recovery from the pandemic.
But starting a new job is challenging and while considerable effort is being put into supporting people to change jobs or get back into work, much less attention has been paid to the ongoing support that they will need in the workplace to help them make a success of their new roles and learn new skills. This responsibility will fall to line managers but are they prepared, and do they have the skills to help these new employees adjust?