Human capital in the UK

1. Human capital and the UK Civil Service:Continuing toboost capabilities
In myoffice,we are currentlyundergoinganupskillingprocess,where the aimistoeliminateriskto
middle skilledrolesbyaddingcapabilitytoboosttohighskilledroles.Thisistakingthe formof
varioustrainingcoursesofferedtoall staff todevelopskillsincoding,leadership,andanalytical
techniques,toname afew.
There isan importantneedforlowskilledrolestoo inthe office,suchasour catering staff. Job
protection asfar as possible isespeciallybeneficial tothe local area,whichisnot particularly
wealthy.
Technical andcreative skillsare vital inthe UK,as a serviceseconomy.Creative skills,andother‘soft
skills’,are estimatedtobecome more importantinthe comingdecade.A Nestaarticle saysthat:
“A newstudy of 35 million UKjob advertsfrom2013-2017 findsthatemployersrequire creativity in
jobsthatare particularly likely to growin importancein the futureworkforce.Looking at39
transferableskills,creativity is consistently identified as the mostsignificantpredictorforthe
likelihood of growthforan occupation between now and 2030(2). Othertransferableskills include
communication skills,teambuilding,and successfully meeting deadlines.”1
More evidence infavourof thisargumentispresentedinanarticle fromthe Guardiannewspaper
lastDecember2
.Empathywill be important,inpartdue to the agingpopulationinthe UK and
subsequentneedformore care workersand nurses,forexample. Inthe central Civil Service,there is
an emphasisondevelopingthese skillsandofferingfundingforotherstotrainand developthem
too.
The fieldof Artificial Intelligence offersscarce directthreattothe Civil Service,comparedto
manufacturingandbusinessconsultancyindustries,forexample, butitcouldstill creepin.Perhaps
Human Resourceswill use AItoscanapplicationsandmake initial screeningjudgements,oritcould
be usedto produce statistical outputs.Inthese cases,staff will needtofindothertaskstowork on –
for HR, itcouldbe wideningaccesstoopportunitiesacrossthe UK withmore visitsto
underprivilegedareas.
We need to continue to do this but increase the pace of change and take a more targeted
approach:
 Some people have differentnatural strengthswhichcouldbe cateredformore easily
 The processcould,and should,startinschools – ComputerScience hasbeenrecognisedas
importantforstudentstostudy,but we shouldn’tforget about‘softskills’
 We needacohesive approachacrossthe whole Civil Service
 We needtobe mindful of geographical differencesinthe UKand workto counterthese
There are some potential problemswithlocalisationinthe central Civil Service.Accordingto
Institute forGovernment3
,the majorityof staff athigherskill levelsare basedinLondonalone,a
vibrantcitybut one that isnot suitable foreveryone!The concentrationof the SeniorCivilService,
the leaders,inLondoncouldencourage aLondon-centricapproach.
The Governmentalsoexaminedthe state of skillsinthe UK’slabourmarket4
:
“Only two of the 15 top performing LEP regionsin termsof high level skills are located north of the
Midlands,and again only two of the 15 poorest performing LEPregionsare located south of the
Midlands.”

2. LEP meansLocal Enterprise Partnershipand are regionswhere ascheme toencourage economic
growthhas beensetup.The geographicdifferencesinCivil Service roles –withtheirrelativelystable
offeringsof highskilledjobs –meansthat accessto themvariesfordifferentpeople.
To share the benefitsof internal upskillingprogrammes,andtogenerate spillovereffects,the Civil
Service needsadiverse recruitmentstrategyandwillingnessto openofficesinregionsoutside
London(andSouthernEngland).There hasbeenastrongcommitmenttoa diverse workforce,and
hopefullythe progressmade sofarwill continue!5
Sources:
1. https://www.nesta.org.uk/news/new-research-shows-creativity-will-become-even-more-
important-growth-jobs-between-now-and-2030/
2. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/dec/20/future-graduates-will-need-creativity-
and-empathy-not-just-technical-skills
3. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/location-of-civil-service
4.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fi
le/344440/The_Labour_Market_Story-_The_State_of_UK_Skills.pdf
5.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file
/658488/Strategy_v10_FINAL_WEB6_TEST_021117.pdf