As there is an ever-increasing focus on employers pivoting their organisational talent to meet new business challenges, upskilling and reskilling the country’s workforce to bridge critical skills gaps will be a key component of Scotland’s economic rebuild and recovery.

Organisations are recognising the need to adapt for both the short and long term for them to survive in today’s ever-changing climate, to boost productivity and growth or adapt to evolving jobs needs – now more so than ever before, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Open University’s (OU) Business Barometer 2020 report found that 60% of employers in Scotland had skills gaps, with some of them taking more than 26 months to fill vacancies. In order to plug those gaps, organisations spent £460 million, a 60% increase on the previous year. That’s a very costly and short-term approach to addressing skills shortages, and one that is unsustainable, particularly for SMEs.

The OU is delighted that SMEs across Scotland can now access training up to the value of £5,000 delivered by The OU to support staff development via the Flexible Workforce Development Scotland – a new fund supported by the Scottish Government via the Scottish Funding Council, and are inviting you to join them in an exclusive webinar to find out more on Wednesday 9th June from 10:00 – 11:00.

Sign Up Here.