REC wrote to Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy

On Monday, the REC wrote to Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes MSP to discuss Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation, published last week. The Strategy document includes some welcome and necessary ambitions for the next decade. In particular, we were pleased to see the focus on skills at every stage of life, using skills to improve social mobility and ensuring we've got the skills we need for the future. While we fully support the view that "a skilled population is fundamental to business productivity and economic prosperity", we also need to have the jobs and the people to fill them.

Improving skills is a vital piece of the puzzle but taken in isolation, that alone won't boost productivity, investment, and economic prosperity. How people are attracted to sectors and retained in them is a matter of more than skills. Long-term change will require a partnership between employers and businesses to support change that is both effective and based on sound commercial thinking for Scotland’s businesses. While businesses must do more to attract and retain staff, government must recognise that it has a role to play too – and this is where the REC can help.  

We’ve asked the Cabinet Secretary for a meeting to discuss the strategy document in more detail, and also to share labour market insights from our members, who understand what is happening on the ground.

You can read the full letter here.