Cambridge Ahead’s work on skills and talent in our city region has hit a new gear this year, keeping track of the fast-changing skills policy landscape and dynamic labour market needs.
From inputting to Government on Growth and Skills Levy changes, to working closely with Skills England since its creation, to the revamp of the Local Skills Improvement Plan.
In a period of dynamism and flux in the skills landscape, we have sought to keep Members informed with the pace of change and ensure their voices are heard by policymakers.
Across the course of the year, we have also been weaving together many of the examples of best practice we’ve heard from our Members in our Skills Group meetings. Across sectors and scales, employers in Cambridge are taking innovative new approaches to diversifying their talent pools; breaking down barriers; driving collaboration; and ensuring their workforces can fully leverage the technologies of the future to fulfil their potential. For the first time, these case studies have been pulled together in our ‘Skills Blueprint’: a showcase of what is possible when employers think creatively and positively about how to access great, untapped talent.
In keeping with the theme of widening access to Cambridge’s economy to those at risk of being excluded, we are delighted to have joined forces with the Included programme: a public and private sector initiative to map employment and skills opportunities across Cambridge, to ensure access, embed skill building and provide real world experience to put young people on a pathway to a fulfilling career.
As industry partner to Included, we will contribute cross-sectoral employer engagement to make doors to opportunity visible and welcoming, and to increase young people’s sense of belonging and agency in the Cambridge economy. This will be particularly impactful in helping to shape the future of disadvantaged young people who currently struggle to access all the Cambridge ecosystem has to offer.
We hope the Skills Blueprint can act as a valuable contribution to discussion on how the Included programme can be informed by the great work already being undertaken by employers across Cambridge – and that in turn, Included can raise awareness of what is out there, and catalyse even more employers to reflect on how they can best access the rich talent that can be found among Cambridge’s young communities.
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing example case studies from the Blueprint. We encourage you to get in touch if you’d like to learn more about any of these programmes, or if you have examples of your own to share.
Many thanks to all who kindly contributed to the report.
