It has to be said at the outset that some of the pressures businesses are facing are the result of longrun structural change affecting the global economy. The spread of international free trade under the auspices of the WTO is undoubtedly a positive development for all of us at the macro-economic level, but it is an added challenge to existing producers at the micro-economic level, and this country is not alone in re-sourcing supplies to some of the transition economies in Eastern Europe or to emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. Nor can we - or should we seek to - avoid the impact of technological change. But there are two main reasons for the particular pressures recently affecting the internationally exposed sectors of our economy: the synchronised economic slow down over the past year or so in all major industrial countries, on the one hand; and the puzzling and persistent weakness of the euro in foreign exchange markets not just against sterling but even more against the dollar, on the other. It is a striking fact that world trade in goods, which has grown at an average rate of around 7% since 1990, and grew by over 12% in the year 2000 alone, hardly grew at all last year! What that has meant for the UK manufacturing sector is that output in the year to January (the latest month for which we have internationally comparable data) fell by around 6%, and employment in manufacturing fell by 165,000 people, or by some 4%.
Such fluid arrangements are also being leveraged to build internal capacity building and support transition. A survey conducted by Capgemini reported that more than 60% of businesses fill new jobs powered by AI and automation with fluid workers first, then gradually seek to transfer knowledge from these specialists to other full-time employees in the organisation. These strategies will have important implications for how we build the future workforce from without rather than within. Such strategies can create greater flexibility for organisations to respond to changing business needs, but they also call for a fundamental re-thinking of pre-existing organisational and cultural norms. As we move forward, deepening employee engagements will become more important to enable firms to better anticipate shifting trends and inform approaches to building a future-fit workforce. It is not uncommon today to find up to four different generations coexisting in many workplaces, each with different perspectives on leadership, learning and workplace culture. Recognising these differences within talent strategies will be important to successfully cultivate a future-ready workforce. Closing message: In closing, I am reminded of the words of Mr. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State who said: "One of the greatest talents of all, is the talent to recognise and develop talent in others". This lies at the heart of building a workforce fit for the future. We all have a part to play – as employers, professional development bodies, training providers and workers – to build a resilient and sustainable talent pipeline for the future.