TUC Skills 2050 - building a worker centred skills ecosystem in the UK

Workers everywhere including in the UK are at a critical juncture. Our economy is undergoing significant change driven by new technologies, the transition to net zero, and shifting labour markets. While technological and industrial change is not new, we can all feel that the shifts we are experiencing now are some of the most profound in a generation or more. And the evidence reflects that: 

• Skills England reports that we will need 900,000 more skilled workers in our priority sectors by 2030 and double that number over the next decade.  
• Up to 40,000 additional engineering-construction workers are needed for net zero. 
• SME adoption of AI reached 54 per cent in 2026, up from 25 per cent in 2024.  
• At the same time, 1 in 4 workers are worried that artificial intelligence will lead to job losses.  

Preparing workers for AI, net zero and changes to the labour market 

Workers must not be left to navigate these changes alone. They must be able to train, re-train, transition and adapt throughout their working lives. But the current skills settlement here in the UK is not enabling a culture of lifelong learning or the infrastructure we need to deliver it. Progress has been made since 2024 through things like the Industrial Strategy, establishing Skills England and apprenticeship reforms, but the system in the UK remains fragmented, complex and exacerbated by years of underinvestment.  

Underinvestment in adult skills and further education 

• Public spending on adult skills in England is still around 30% below its early‑2000s peak, while funding for classroom-based adult learning has fallen by around two-thirds. Nearly 3 in 10 further education colleges are in deficit. 
• FE teacher pay is down around 20 per cent since 2011, at the same time data suggests the number of FE teachers in general fell by a quarter between 2010/11 and 2018/19. 
• Employers’ investment in skills has fallen by nearly 30 per cent since 2011, with UK employers currently only spending half the EU average on workforce training.  
• In 2025 only 1 in 5 adults were participating in some form of learning, down from 30 per cent in 2024.  

How skills shortages are affecting workers, employers and the UK economy 

This leaves the UK facing a huge skills challenge with workers and employers struggling to access the skills they need, contributing to the poor productivity, inequality and sluggish growth that has plagued the UK economy for years.  

• Nearly 9 million adults in England lack essential literacy and numeracy skills. And over one in four (27.4 per cent) people at the age of 24 in England do not have Level 2 English and Maths qualification.  
• Only 45 per cent of adults hold all 20 digital skills deemed essential by government and employers for participating in modern workplaces. 
• 57 per cent of employers report skills shortages. Two thirds of employers say workforce technical skills are now a major barrier for them.  
• Graduates remain three times more likely to receive workplace training than those with lower qualifications. This entrenches inequality and leaves millions of workers unable to pivot as sectors decline and new technologies emerge.  

And that is why we have launched Skills 2050 – because the system we have now is not delivering for workers, employers or our economy.  

We think that the best way to navigate this challenge is to bring everyone who has a stake in this together to debate and develop solutions and crucially, ensure that workers voices are central to discussion. 

What can the UK learn from international lifelong learning systems? 

In comparable international countries that have the best lifelong skills systems, social partnership – where workers, employers and government come together to navigate challenges, and where access to lifelong learning is a right embedded through legislation and collective bargaining - they see much better outcomes for workers, employers and their economies.  

Over the next few days, you will hear debates on just transition, the impact of AI and technology on workers, access to training, support and progression across many different sectors, debates on how to grow the economy and raise living standards and the importance of trade union education and restoring the UnionLearn Fund. Having a skills system that is fit for purpose is essential in all these discussions.  

So, Skills 2050 will work with partners to develop a vision for a skills settlement that delivers for the workers of today and tomorrow, and a practical pathway to achieving it.  

Have your say on the future of skills and training in the UK 

Worker voice is central to this project - if you want to get involved there are two things you can do right now: 

1: Attend our Fringe event at Congress on Tuesday evening to hear more about the project and tell us what you think, what are you facing in your workplace or sector when it comes to skills? 

2: Respond to our call for evidence – you don’t have to answer every question! But we do want to hear directly from workers about their experiences of how change is affecting them in the workplace, and what their experiences of trying to navigate getting access to training is like.