The Skills 2050 Project brings together employers, unions and education experts to develop a long-term skills strategy for the UK workforce amid AI disruption, labour shortages and widening skills gaps.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has launched a major new national initiative bringing together unions, employers, colleges and skills experts to tackle Britain’s worsening skills crisis, warning that years of underinvestment, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and widening regional inequalities are leaving millions of workers unprepared for the jobs of the future.
The new Skills 2050 Project aims to co-design a long-term, worker-centred skills strategy that will equip people for the jobs of tomorrow while helping businesses adapt to technological change and supporting sustainable economic growth.
The initiative brings together key organisations including Make UK, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Association of Colleges, alongside trade unions and education providers, to help reshape Britain’s skills system for the decades ahead.
The launch comes at a pivotal time for the UK labour market, with employers continuing to report widespread recruitment difficulties while AI, automation and the transition to net zero transform the skills required across almost every sector.
Alongside the project, the TUC has launched a national call for evidence to ensure the strategy reflects the experiences of workers, employers and those delivering skills and education across the UK.
BRITAIN FACING SKILLS EMERGENCY
The TUC argues that Britain’s skills crisis has been driven by years of government underinvestment, declining employer spending on workforce training, a failure to listen to workers and a skills system that has struggled to keep pace with technological change. According to the organisation:
- Public spending on adult skills in England remains around 30% below its early-2000s peak.
- Funding for classroom-based adult learning has fallen by around two-thirds.
- Nearly three in ten further education colleges are operating in deficit.
- Around 27% of adults in the West Midlands have qualifications below GCSE level, compared with 9% in West London.
- Nearly 9 million adults lack essential literacy, numeracy or digital skills.
- Jobs supporting the Government’s Industrial Strategy are expected to grow by almost 25%, creating approximately 1.8 million additional roles over the next decade.
The TUC warns these skills shortages are limiting workforce participation, reducing productivity and constraining long-term economic growth.
PRESSURE ON EMPLOYERS TO INVEST IN WORKFORCE SKILLS
The skills challenge is becoming more urgent as businesses accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence. According to the TUC, 67% of employers now say workforce technical skills represent a major barrier to implementing AI successfully.
Those concerns mirror previous studies that show one in five companies have stopped hiring entry-level workers because of AI, highlighting how automation is already reshaping recruitment and increasing the importance of lifelong learning and workforce retraining.
A MILLION YOUNG PEOPLE NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT OR TRAINING
The TUC says Britain continues to face significant challenges in supporting young people into work. Its latest figures show that:
- Around 1 million young people are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).
- Apprenticeship starts among 16 to 24-year-olds have fallen by 40% over the past decade.
- That represents more than 113,000 fewer apprenticeship starts than in 2015/16.
- More than half of apprenticeships are now undertaken by people aged over 25, with many places going to existing employees.
These figures reinforce concerns previously highlighted by Fair Play Talks, including its investigation into Britain’s “lost generation“, which examined how declining entry-level recruitment is leaving many young people locked out of the labour market despite persistent employer skills shortages. Similarly, there are reports that growing numbers of young Britons are leaving the UK in search of better career opportunities overseas as youth unemployment and limited progression continue to affect early careers.
WORKERS IN EMPLOYMENT ALSO BEING LEFT BEHIND
The TUC argues that the challenge extends beyond young people entering the workforce. As AI, automation and the transition to net zero reshape industries, workers already in employment increasingly need opportunities to retrain throughout their careers. However:
- UK employers invest around half the EU average in workforce training.
- Graduates are three times more likely to receive workplace training than non-graduates.
The organisation says this imbalance risks widening inequality while making it harder for businesses to respond to changing economic conditions.
PUBLIC BACKS LEGAL RIGHT TO LIFELONG TRAINING
Alongside the launch, the TUC published new polling of more than 4,000 people in May 2026 local election areas. The research found that 70% support introducing a legal right to lifelong learning and training, with support consistent across age groups and political parties.
The Skills 2050 Project will now work towards developing recommendations that:
- empower workers to access training throughout their working lives;
- help businesses respond to economic and technological change;
- improve productivity and long-term growth; and
- establish a new tripartite-led skills system involving government, employers and trade unions.
TIME TO CLOSE SKILLS GAPS
The TUC welcomed several recent government initiatives, including:
- the Industrial Strategy;
- Skills England;
- apprenticeship reforms;
- the Milburn Review into youth inactivity; and
- the AI Skills Boost pledge.
However, it argues that much greater investment and collaboration will be needed if Britain is to close long-standing skills gaps.
BRITAIN MUST GO FURTHER AND FASTER
“Britain is being held back by a persistent skills crisis. The problem isn’t a lack of talent – it’s years of underinvestment in the skills people need to succeed,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak. “The government has begun to turn the page through the Youth Guarantee, the creation of Skills England and increased investment in further education.
“But this is a pivotal moment. We need to go further and faster to equip workers with the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Too many people risk being shut out of a rapidly changing labour market because they haven’t been given the opportunity to retrain and adapt. That’s why unions, employers and skills experts are coming together through Skills 2050 to build a shared vision for a UK workforce that can adapt, thrive and drive growth.”
BUSINESSES BACK THE INITIATIVE
Business groups welcome the initiative. “BCC research shows that more than half of businesses are facing skills shortages. This is a serious drag on productivity and growth,” pointed out Kate Shoesmith, Director of Policy and Insights at the British Chambers of Commerce. “We need a coherent skills system which enables firms to respond to the compounding challenges of AI, an aging workforce, higher employment costs and record numbers of young people out of work.”
According to the Rt Hon. Robert Halfon, Executive Director for Policy, Membership & External Affairs at Make UK, “Manufacturing has 51,000 vacancies it cannot fill, and skills shortages are costing the sector billions in lost output and growth. The Industrial Strategy and its eight sector plans set the right direction, but they will only deliver if every rung of the ladder of opportunity is in place: quality apprenticeships to bring people in, and genuine lifelong learning to keep them climbing.”
Too many firms are “still struggling to find the people they need to invest, innovate and compete”, added Halfon. “Make UK welcomes this initiative, which brings unions, employers, colleges and government together to build the skilled, adaptable workforce manufacturing needs for the long term.”
TIME TO INVEST IN ADULT EDUCATION
David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “I am so pleased that the Association of Colleges is part of the TUC’s new taskforce on skills. The data tells us, time and time again, that the UK is facing a critical skills crisis. We know that this is a consequence of underfunded and underappreciated adult education and training, with government and employer investment far lower now than 20 years ago.
Hughes believes it is a situation that the new prime minister must set right “because adults are missing out on opportunities to learn the new skills they will need in a changing world, and as a result, employers are struggling to find the people they need with the skills needed to be productive”. “We need a shift to a lifelong learning culture, backed up by actions from government, employers, colleges, unions and others,” added Hughes. “I’d like to see a long-term government strategy which builds interest and investment for adults of all ages. Colleges are vital places where adults will access the skills they need, and I know they will want to engage with the Taskforce over the coming months.”
LOOKING AHEAD
With nearly nine million adults lacking essential basic skills, one million young people outside education or employment, and businesses struggling to recruit workers with the capabilities needed for an AI-driven economy, Britain’s skills challenge is becoming increasingly urgent. The Skills 2050 Project represents an ambitious attempt to bring together government, employers, education providers and trade unions around a shared long-term vision for workforce development.
Its success will ultimately depend on sustained investment and collaboration, but today’s launch signals growing recognition that Britain’s future competitiveness will depend not only on technological innovation, but on giving people the opportunity to develop the skills needed to thrive throughout their working lives.
WHAT EMPLOYERS SHOULD DO NOW
The launch of the Skills 2050 Project is a timely reminder that businesses cannot rely solely on recruitment to close widening skills gaps. Employers should consider:
- Carrying out workforce skills audits to identify future capability gaps.
- Increasing investment in continuous professional development rather than one-off training.
- Embedding AI, digital and data literacy across all departments.
- Expanding apprenticeships, internships and entry-level recruitment to build future talent pipelines.
- Working more closely with colleges, universities and local training providers.
- Supporting mid-career retraining as technology changes existing roles.
- Giving employees dedicated time for learning and development.
- Measuring training outcomes alongside productivity, retention and employee engagement.
These recommendations also reinforce themes explored in Fair Play Talks coverage of Social Mobility Day 2026, which highlighted how unequal access to education, skills and career development is widening Britain’s opportunity gap. A stronger culture of lifelong learning could help employers improve both business resilience and social mobility.
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