The Oxfordshire economy is one of the best-performing nationally and we – working alongside key partners – aim to encourage sustainable growth driven by our Local Industrial Strategy, including significant job creation over the period to 2040.
We already have significant numbers of new jobs in the county. Between 2011/12 and 2016/17, Oxfordshire has seen a total of 50,000 new jobs created.
Young people are at the heart of this ambition – indeed, the county cannot achieve sustainable growth without ensuring that we have a suitably-qualified and skilled workforce. The world of work and employers’ needs change so rapidly that it’s often difficult to keep pace.
With this in mind, on 25 April, we will be asking the question; ‘Are education providers and young people prepared for the jobs of tomorrow?’
Through our regular Q&A and a skills conference – led by OxLEP Skills – we will focus on whether young people are likely to be equipped with the necessary skills to adapt to jobs that will become prevalent in the coming decades, in-line with the technological advancements likely to take place across the county.
Our Local Industrial Strategy is ambitious and positions Oxfordshire as one of the top-three global innovation ecosystems, highlighting our world-leading science and technology cluster – a vision feasible given the fact that we are home to assets such as the largest space cluster in Western Europe.
Alongside these world-class research and development capabilities, Oxfordshire is a county with particular prominence in four transformative technologies, which could bring major global opportunities to boost the UK economy.
The county’s Science and Innovation Audit has suggested that collectively, the sectors of connected and autonomous vehicles, space and satellites, technologies underpinning quantum computing and digital health have the potential to add up to £180billion GVA growth to the UK economy by 2030.
This growth prospect brings with it its own challenges, with particular importance placed on the necessity for today’s young people having the skills to cater to this adapting jobs market – this however is achievable through collaboration between education and industry.
Find out more and head to our event on 25 April.
