Reskilling and upskilling talent vital to tackling labour market challenges – Chamber
Investment in reskilling and upskilling talent is vital to tackling recruitment challenges facing West Midlands firms, business leaders said today.
Official figures released this morning revealed West Midlands unemployment rose by 0.4 per cent during the three months to November 2024, while employment decreased by 0.3 per cent.
Nationally, employment fell by 0.1 per cent and unemployment was up by 0.4 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Meanwhile, the estimated number of vacancies in the UK fell by 24,000 in the October to December 2024 period – decreasing for the 30th consecutive period but remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce said this mirrors data from its Quarterly Business Report survey which suggests fewer local businesses attempted to recruit in the final quarter of 2024.
Emily Stubbs (pictured), head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Government must ease cost pressures on businesses to unlock investment in up- and re- skilling local talent and tackle unemployment in the West Midlands.
“Today’s national vacancy figures mirror the results of our Quarterly Business Report survey in Greater Birmingham, which found that just 26 per cent of firms sought to hire staff in the final quarter of 2024 - a figure 10 percentage points lower than that seen at the start of the year.
“Though national vacancies currently remain above pre-Covid levels, in light of the recent Autumn Budget and the introduction of Make Work Pay, it is anticipated that many businesses will be taking a more cautious approach to hiring in 2025, to protect against increased costs.
“Amid these mounting cost pressures, the work of local and regional stakeholders to tackle skills shortages in the West Midlands, in collaboration with employers, will become even more critical to driving economic growth.”
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