STUART PATRICK
When Skills Development Scotland published its evidence report on jobs and skills towards the end of last year, one statistic caught my eye. Glasgow’s employment levels according to the annual population survey had grown faster than any other Scottish region since the recession in 2008.
By 2016 the number of jobs in the city had grown by 8% against an overall Scottish performance of 0.2%. The next fastest growth was Lanarkshire.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised at that, because Glasgow in the last 20 years has built a more diverse and resilient economy
Some earlier forecasts suggested Glasgow wouldn’t regain pre-recession employment until the 2030s. In fact it’s already well ahead.
One consequence for the city has been the emergence of skills shortages in key sectors like digital technology and engineering. This was one of the issues regularly raised with us by members during consultation on the city’s economic strategy - and that’s before we fully understand what impact Brexit is having on our ability to keep hold of our skilled European workforce.
When Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Michael Saunders visited the Chamber, he felt sure we were likely to be experiencing skills shortages for a while yet.
There is though a genuinely exciting opportunity ahead. For decades Glasgow has been challenged with a stubbornly high level of economic inactivity.
Neighbourhoods across the city appear consistently in the most deprived districts in the UK, and a major obstacle to tackling endemic poverty has been a real lack of job opportunities. For the young emerging from Glasgow schools that picture is now Sdefinitely changing.
That’s why Glasgow Chamber’s Employer Board recently re-committed itself to the Scottish Government’s Developing the Young Workforce initiative for another three years.
The DYW Glasgow team are in the midst of Maximising Your May, a determined drive to connect secondary school pupil with local employers to help share insights into what is meant by employability, what is happening across a range of growing industries and where opportunities might lie in apprenticeships.
Employers and bodies including Allied Vehicles, Arnold Clark, Bosch, Aldi , McDonalds, Scottish Women in Technology and Marsh Insurance have provided opportunities throughout May to around 1,000 Glasgow schools pupils to get a greater grasp of the jobs that are out there in the city’s economy.
Perhaps this is finally the moment when we can change expectations in our most deprived communities.
Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
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