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ONS: just 6.6% of UK workers have the skills to work in at least one other occupation: "Underutilised skills are stalling the success of the UK economy"

ended 19. August 2024

The Office for National Statistics recently published a report, Understanding skill and qualification suitability in the labour market, UK: August 2024. Among other things, it revealed that, in 2022, according to the Annual Population Survey, just 2.3 million (6.6%) of the working-age population in the UK had the skills to work in at least one other occupation outside of their current one. It also found that the two most critical skills for the labour market were "establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships" and "updating and using relevant knowledge", as these skills were required for the largest number of different occupations. Other key findings below. Newspage asked experts for their views, bottom.

  • In 2021, according to the Census, just over half (52.5%) of employed adults in England and Wales had qualifications that matched the average for their occupation, while one in five (20.2%) employed adults were more qualified than average for their current occupation.
  • In 2021, employed women were more likely than men to be more qualified than average for their current occupation (21.8% compared with 18.7%).
  • Overall, women of working age were more likely to have the skills from their current or most recent occupation to work in at least one other occupation outside of their current jobs (7.4%, compared with 5.9% of men in 2022); this implies a greater underutilisation of women's skills and qualifications in the labour market.
  • Employed people were more likely to demonstrate these critical skills than unemployed people; the gap was largest in Yorkshire and the Humber, where in 2022, 71.1% of employed people and 41.8% of unemployed people were able to demonstrate “updating and using relevant knowledge”.
  • In 2021, employed people in the North East were most likely to be more qualified than average for their current occupations (22.3%), while those in the East of England and the South East were least likely (18.7% and 18.4%, respectively).

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Debbie Denyer
Executive Coach, Facilitator & Neurodiversity Trainer at Coach the Difference Ltd
Underutilised skills, based on this evidence, are stalling the success of the UK economy and stopping people from fulfilling their true potential. Imagine how the economy could perform if people's true skills were unleashed. Many women I’ve coached are in roles that don’t fully utilise their skills, chipping away at their confidence. Balancing childcare with career ambitions makes the prospect of finding fulfilling work more daunting. Yet, embracing their potential could transform their professional lives and their sense of purpose.
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Erefa Coker FCIPD
Founder at IMÒ INTERNS
The UK labour market is facing a skills paradox. While millions possess untapped potential for career pivots, critical interpersonal and knowledge-updating skills remain unevenly distributed. This mismatch, particularly pronounced for women, highlights the urgent need for targeted upskilling initiatives and reimagining how we value and utilise diverse talents across industries.
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Guy Ellis
Founder at Courageous Workplaces
The UK is sleepwalking towards global irrelevance. As a country, we are facing unprecedented pressure from emerging industries and technologies to upskill to simply maintain our global presence. It's concerning that this research suggests that only 6.6% of the working age population have the skills to work in at least one other occupation outside of their current one. Without a nationally co-ordinated response and cultural and workplace shift towards encouraging UK citizens to embrace wider and lifelong learning, the UK will be left behind.