Achi news desk-
Aaron Miller of Morrison Construction, Callum Gaw of Spirit Aerosystems, Jocelyn Harcus of Sheila Fleet Jewellery, and Leia Pol of Ross-shire Engineering were praised by attendees for their achievements and insight in response to questions from event host Bruce Walker, senior a Powering Future adviser and co-founder of Future X, who also asked teacher Sarah McGowan from Drumchapel High School about how the education sector was helping young people gain access to the workplace.
Mr Walker later held a panel discussion with five company leaders, Fergus Mutch of True North (Scotland), Tony Elliot of Robertson Group, Gaynor Marshall of Lothian Buses, Paul Steen of Vattenfall, and Rhiannon McNiven of Diageo, who addressed the skills agenda from a business perspective.
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Introducing the event, Mr Walker said the event would explore how to “inspire and engage” the workforce for 2030 and the challenges and opportunities involved. The title of the 2030 event refers to the Paris Agreement, where participating nations strive to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The conference started yesterday with a challenge from Jennifer Tempany, co-founder of Powering Futures, who set out the task facing Scotland in its bid to take advantage of the net zero campaign. Ms Tempany said that by 2030 most children currently starting secondary school will have left and pupils about to leave will have gone through college, university or completed an apprenticeship and entered the workforce .
“Therefore, we need the workforce of the future to drive the economy and the opportunity for this country to positively transition to net zero is a crucial step at this time,” he said.
“And so it has never been more important to have them and their vision for their future, and to know that.”
He added: “However, consistently, when we speak to businesses from different sectors across the country about what concerns them, one of their common issues, apart from cost, is talent. We don’t have enough people with the right skills, and we think it’s only going to get worse. And if you couple that with the tens of thousands of jobs we need for the emerging energy transition as we head towards 2030, then we have a problem. And I believe we are in real danger of missing out on the positive side that a positive transition to net zero will bring and the economic opportunity it will create for this country for decades to come.”
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However, he insisted that although there is currently a skills gap, there is no shortage of talented people in Scotland.
“Whether you’re Gen Z or Gen Alpha, Millennial or Boomer, we have one thing in common. We’re all generation 2030, so let’s get after this, let’s get on it back together,” said Ms Tempany.
A recurring theme was the need to foster more links between business and education in order to better highlight emerging opportunities.
But the representatives were also given strong examples of young people who have developed quickly in their careers after finding the right opportunity. Mr Gaw revealed that he is now a complete aircraft fitter at Spirit Aerosystems after completing his apprenticeship on Friday. He later gave a keynote speech which emphasized the need for businesses and schools to work together more.
“In my experience, we need more work placements for young people, because you need to see what you want to get into,” said Mr Gaw.
Ms Harcus offered an insight into Sheila Fleet Jewelery’s life on Orkney, which she joined as an apprentice through Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Responding to a question from Mr Walker about the importance of local opportunities, he said that joining Sheila Fleet meant she did not have to go to university on the mainland, which “being an Orkney girl at heart” she did not want. His role at the jeweler spans everything from customer service and marketing to finance.
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Mr Miller is a graduate framework assistant at Morrison Construction, working on the development of projects developed through public frameworks. He graduated in business from Strathclyde University.
Asked by Mr Walker to comment on the importance of feeling valued at work, Mr Miller said: “When you’re bringing young people into a business, there’s no harm in listening to what they have to say. say I have found in the last few months that my line manager has started to listen to me. The fact that he listens to what I have to say makes me feel valued at work. It really boosts your morale.”
Ms Pol is Ross-shire Engineering’s sustainability co-ordinator in Inverness, and is responsible for delivering the company’s net zero strategy. He said it was important that young people had room to fail. “Everyone has failed at some point. I think young people are particularly afraid to fail for fear of it being held against them. But in my job, sustainability, everyone is learning. Even if you have a degree in sustainability, it’s changing all the time. I’m lucky that my manager allows me to run with projects and if it fails, you learn from it.”
When asked to comment on the balance between academic qualifications and learning in the workplace, Ms McGowan admitted that there is a tendency for schools to focus more on grades when there are pupils who would benefit more from work-based opportunities. He said: “I’m very lucky at my school. There is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of attainment, so we have more skills based lessons. We have an alternative curriculum.”
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Meanwhile business leaders offered their insight into how Scotland can develop the skills they need.
Mr Mutch expressed the most political opinion of the day, stating that the current immigration policy in Westminster is making it more difficult for Scotland to attract the skills it needs. He noted that although Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen would traditionally have attracted a large number of engineering master’s students from West Africa, the current policy means that “they are now being told by the UK Government that you cannot come with your family” .
“They are also being told that you have to have a very high earnings threshold if you are going to have the right to stay and contribute to the future of this country afterwards,” he added: “That does not suit the skills model we have. we just need to address that now.”
Mr Elliot at the Robertson Group said businesses, educators, government and parents needed to work together more. He observed that there is more to sectors such as construction than meets the eye and also said that it is important for young people to know that the skills they learn in one industry can be transferred to others.
Ms Marshall at Lothian Buses noted that university degrees were not perfect for job seekers, stressing individual qualities and the importance of providing the right environment. But he said the whole business sector needed to come together to boost its recruitment activity.
Meanwhile Mr Steen from Vattenfall said that schools were not highlighting the roles that industries have to offer, while companies need to connect better with the education sector.
Ms McNiven at Diageo emphasized the importance of employers listening to younger members of staff. “There’s a great saying: talent whispers. How do we listen to our talent, how do we create an environment where our future talent can pick up those ideas and come up with solutions, and foster that culture where you feel valued?”
