Developing a UK Skills Taxonomy
The term ‘skill’ is used when describing various aspects of work, including the jobs held by workers, their education, training and work experience, the state of labour markets, the nature of training schemes, advice given to job seekers, and in employer recruitment processes. Despite its wide use as a concept, a classification of skills has not been developed in the UK that meets the needs of the wide range of users of information on skills, particularly labour market analysts, employers seeking to recruit workers, and those assisting job seekers.
The project was designed in the first phase undertaken in 2023. Plans for production of the SSC were set out in the report from this phase, which described the consultation with stakeholders on the conceptual basis of the classification and the methods for its construction, including the linkages to classifications of occupations and qualifications.
The overarching objective is to ensure that the future demand for skills can be clearly recognised and understood, facilitating plans to address skills gaps and labour shortages.
The work will be conducted by a consortium of researchers led by Professor Peter Elias and Dr Jeisson Cardenas-Rubio at the Warwick Institute for Employment Research , Professor Andy Dickerson at the University of Sheffield, and Neil Bachelor Omnifolio C.I.C., a non-for-profit online profiling and job-matching service. Other IER staff engaged on the project include Rosie Day, Luke Bosworth, Stefanie Poole and Lynne Marston.
Project Team:
Peter Elias, IER (Principal Investigator)
Professor Andy Dickerson, University of Sheffield
Neil Bachelor, Omnifolio C.I.C.
Luke Bosworth, IER
Project duration:
March 2024 - March 2026
Sponsor:
