Recently, I’ve been reflecting on a couple of significant anniversaries.

It was 40 years ago in September 1978 that I left my home in Glasgow at the age of 17 to study French and German at Aberdeen University. It’s also 35 years ago since I travelled south in September 1983 to start my first full time job in telephone sales at Macro Marketing on the edge of the Slough Trading Estate. How the world has changed since then, and I wonder if I would have made the same decisions today.

Nowadays there are so many more options for young people leaving school to enter the workplace and I think that is fabulous. It’s good for business and for the individuals who have more choices.

I think I would always have gone to university, and I recognise that I was lucky to come from a background where that was a possibility. I loved my time at Aberdeen University and learned so many skills as part of my studies. The practical element of my degree, working abroad along with various Summer jobs, really enhanced my soft skills.

However, although I didn’t need a degree for my first role at Macro Marketing (nor was I able to use my languages, which at the time I found immensely frustrating), those first two years in the workforce provided much needed work experience…essentially they made me ‘work ready’.

Apprenticeships

Nowadays young people can choose a variety of ways to enter the workplace, all of which are equally valid.

Most recently the ever growing apprentice family allows pupils to start their career path with Foundation Apprentices in the senior phase at School. There are also the traditional Modern Apprentice (MA) roles, which are very well established here, and last year we saw the national roll-out of Graduate Level Apprentices (GLAs).

These offer great opportunities for Scotland’s young people, and a whole variety of options not available even just a few years ago, never mind 30 years ago!

For me, personally, the GLA option would have been really attractive, and would have made me more effective, more quickly, in the workplace as well as acting as a springboard at the start of my career. It would have negated the requirement for those initial two years at Macro Marketing because that experience (and more) would have been gained in the workplace as an integral part of my degree.

Since returning to work in Scotland at the end of 2008, after an extended period living and working abroad on continental Europe and in the US, I have worked for employers who have been really supportive of apprenticeship schemes, from traditional MAs to the GLAs.

In the IT industry we are facing a serious skills shortage and in Scotland alone we require nearly 13,000 new entrants a year to keep pace with what is required, and more if we are to accelerate progress. These roles are required across all sectors because today every business is a digital business.

Nearly 30% of tech start ups in the UK come out of Scotland. We are in an excellent position to nurture that talent and Fintech, Gaming and Cyber are just some examples of the potential to build world class organisations here in Scotland.

However, we will only succeed in achieving this potential if we can fill and retain the talent pipeline.

The skills shortage is compounded by the fact that many of the roles available in the IT industry are not obvious to key influencers of young people. Unlike traditional career roles, many of the jobs available today did not exist in the past. I read recently that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not been invented yet. Equally there is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence and Robotics will bring significant change in the workplace. STEM is important of course but so are soft skills and this is often overlooked.

Apprenticeships bring new and fresh perspectives. They bring the latest ideas on collaboration, teamwork and communication. They can play an important role in reverse mentoring Digital Immigrants like myself. This generation has their own view on work life balance and on what constitutes a successful career. It is likely that future careers will involve multiple roles with many companies, or more individuals choosing freelance working, rather than spending the majority of a career with a few organisations.

To quote Justin Trudeau in a recent World Economic Forum speech at Davos: “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.”

In this context, business needs to take diverse talent from every available source to ensure that Scotland remains competitive on a global stage. We are rightly proud of our world class universities. The Modern Apprentice family is a really important contributor to creating a diverse, talented workforce that will establish and maintain Scotland’s place as a leader in this digital world.

Skills 4.0: Work-based Learning For #AHumanFuture” is the theme for this year’s Centre for Work Based Learning symposium. Organised in partnership with Skills Development Scotland, more than 100 global directors, educationalists and policy makers are expected to attend the event in Glasgow on 6th November 2018 to discuss the future of work and skills in Scotland.