EMPLOYABILITY, ECONOMICS, AND HUMAN RESOURCES

High-level officers are predicted to be in higher demand than lower-level police between 2017 and 2025. The issue is mostly caused by the economic recovery following the 2008-2009 recession, a stable political climate, and increased access to university education. Throughout the United Kingdom, the employment and employability of the citizens is set to plummet owing to the political situation in the country. Brexit is a recipe for loss is investor and business confidence leading to loss of jobs in the short run. However, in the long term, the jobs are set to be restored and an increased demand for the high-level jobs further improved. The scenario is likely to result owing to the diversion of the membership fees of the UK to the EU being channelled to the economic growth of the local industries. The projected decline in the new graduate population is also set to increase access to tertiary training leading to a higher demand for the high-level jobs.

Introduction

Employability Economics and HR’s demand for skills is changing rapidly with the ever-expanding economy of most countries in the world. The future demand for skills depends mainly on the job opportunities that the economy will create. It is expected that in future, the growth of professionals in the high-level offices such as managers and other associate professionals will be high as compared to the low-level offices. These projections estimate that there will be an increase of job opportunities in the service industry as compared to those from the manufacturing sector of the economy by the year 2025 (Khallash et al. 2012, p. 685). The increase in the demand for the higher offices personnel is an indication of the changes that have been made by the employers to recruit more skilled individuals who can manage.

The demand for the skills will depend on factors such as demographic changes and the technical changes in the field. The advancement of technology in the information and communication industry will enable the employers to participate in major supply chain activities across different boundaries. Apart from technology, other skills such as organizational change will be needed to ensure that the gains of technology are optimized. The paper will base its’ discussions on the economic projections in relation to the skills that will be required at the time.

Changes Expected in the Job Market by 2025

Most of the countries especially in Europe and the USA have achieved stability status following the 2008/2009 economic crisis. There have been reported growths of GDPs in some of these countries by at least 2.0 percent on average.

Although the growth is significantly lower than the one that was experienced before the turbulent period, it is a sign of good things that are coming. It is important to note that with the changing economy, the job market will also experience developments especially in term of Human resource management and the skills that the employees will be required to have to sustain the expansion of the economy. The role that a well-equipped labor force plays in an economy is significant and cannot be neglected. Therefore, it is important to evaluate how the skills in different industries have evolved and how they will evolve by the year 2025.

Considering that the job market and the demand for skills;the demand of the employers for skills will mainly be determined by the products and services that a particular company will be offering, the organization’s future strategic plan, as well as the economic conditions at the time. Some of the factors that shape the demand for skills in the workplace today are listed below:

Consumer choice,

Corporate strategy

Regulatory environment

Competition and Globalization

Macroeconomic environment

Technical change

Demographic change

Political environment

In the future, it is expected that the political and economic factors will have a more significant influence on an organization’s products and services, which will mean that it will also affect the skills that the company will be demanding. Therefore, by the year 2025, human resource managers will focus mainly on the following factors when recruiting:

Demographic change

Technical change

Corporate strategy

Competition and Globalization

Demographic Change

Demographic change is one of the most influential drivers of change in the job market. In a country where the aging population makes up the majority like in some of the European countries, it leads to higher demand for health and social products. An example of the medical products that are high on demand is the self-diagnostic kits as well as the telemedicine technologies. Therefore, an aging population will cause an increase in the demand of the people who will be required to work in the medical sector. The higher the demand for personnel that will be needed to work in the medical sector the more job opportunities will be created.

Technical Change

The innovations that are experienced daily in the world have brought about the development of products, production processes, and services. These rapid innovations and the advancement in technology are expected to continue into the future and have a more significant influence on the economy. It is expected that in the future technologies such as nanotechnologies, biotechnology, and other enabling technologies will be developed. These developments will play a fundamental role in the operations of a firm and the overall performance of the economy in a country. Therefore, in the coming years, the HR managers will be expected to focus more on the development of ideas that brings about innovation in a firm. The need to exploit the resources at hand to develop and improve the products and services that a company offers will be equally important.

Corporate Strategy

One of the factors that affect the job market today is the type of products and services that a company or a country aims to produce. Corporate strategy is one of the factors that is expected to have an influence on the job market by 2025. The need for a highly skilled labor force that will improve the volume of a company that has set its strategic goal on improving its output will be a factor that will be of importance. A company will have to choose where it will locate some of its elements of production. In a case whereby a company is aiming to develop its products in a specific market, it will have to move some of its high value-added production process elements to that country. Therefore, the future of the job market will mainly rely on the goals that the company aims to achieve.

Competition and Globalization

The gains that have been achieved in the communication sector has led to the ability of different people to trade in the global economy with limited restrictions unlike in the past. With the removal of these restrictions, firms have made choices on the location of their production. Products can now be produced anywhere in the world using technology unlike in the past. The location of the production process is commonly affected by the availability of skilled labor. It is expected that in 2025,more focus in the industry will be on the availability of skilled labor especially in regions that companies plan to invest.

Skills Demand in 2025

The demand for skills will mainly depend on the level of the economy that a country will have achieved. The demand for skills will also be affected by the long-term employment trends that have an effect on the demand and supply of skills. The labor force in the UK as an example is expected to grow by 2025 but less rapid like in the previous decades. An increase in the supply of labor normally causes most of the people to remain in the working force for a long period, as there will be an increase in education with the aim of retaining staff. The second effect will be limited short-term job opportunities for the younger generation job market. However, in the long -term the problem may be mitigated by the increase in the number of job opportunities in the market (Tomlinson 2007, p.285).

Service Sector Expansion

The changes in the occupational employment structure have a significant influence on the future demand for skills in the job market. The sectorial change that is experienced today in countries such as USA, UK, Japan among many other developed countries shows that there is a continued growth of job opportunities, especially in the private sector services.

The projections suggest that there will be a fall in employment opportunities, especially in the manufacturing sector. On the other hand, the construction industry is estimated to be experiencing growth regarding job opportunities. The expected growth in the construction industry has been attributed to the heavy investment by the government in infrastructure projects even in developing countries. There is also projected growth of opportunities in the transport sector and the accommodation as compared to the previous decades (Maselli 2012, p.25).

Skills for the Future

The ever-evolving skills and qualifications in the job market are expected to experience more evolution by 2025. The current trends suggest that a graduate who will be well equipped with skills such as team working, problem-solving, communication will have a higher chance of securing a job as compared to one who will not have such skills. It is expected that in the year 2025, these skills will be the key employability skills that the employers will be looking for in an individual to supplement the technical skills of a particular job. These skills are continuously being offered due to the demand that is in the market for individuals who are well equipped.

Recent data shows that between 2006 and 2012 the most in-demand skills were the computing skills. The same trend is expected to continue although the employers will also consider other skills. Influential skills, which have been on the rise, will also be considered in future as one of the most essential skills that an individual can possess. The current trends suggest that the hybrid technical and generic skills will be some of the most important skills when looking for employment.

Aerospace and automotive sectors will the most impacted by the development of the technology. It is expected that by the year 2025 there will be significant growth I the two regions globally. Graduate in these industries will need to be equipped with skills in 3D printing, plastic electronics, and advanced composites. The current recruitment pressure that is being experienced in these sectors is expected to continue to the extent that there will be skill shortage. The companies in these sectors will mainly seek people who are equipped with business development and hybrid technical skills. The demand for individuals with skills in Design engineering may be high in the additive manufacturing sector. While in the composites, there will be high demand for managers who are skilled in business development and have a wide knowledge on technological innovation (Wong et al. 2012, p.48).

In the construction industry, the major changes are expected to be the shifting approaches from the silo-based to a more collaborative working as well as the development of hybrid roles. The shift will bring about the high demand for people who have skills in planning, project management, and marketing. These changes are expected to increase in the labor market as we approach 2025.

Employability Economics in the UK

The period 2017-2025 is expected to undergo significant shifts in employability economics. The issue of Brexit is set to be the lead cause of the changes that are expected within the UK market. First, the population growth trends in the United Kingdom are the leading cause of the changes that are projected to be realized in the country. The number of age 21 is set to drop from 845,000 in 2015 to 742,000 in 2023. The pie-chart below describes the changes in the number of fresh graduates in the UK. Based on the chart, the fresh graduate population is set to reduce by 6% leading to increase access and demand for the top level jobs.

The decline in the population triggers a decline is the number of graduates since the average age of graduates in the UK is 2011. The decrease in the age group, thus, means that the universities will train lesser people and have a stringent focus on the development of a highly skilled labor force. Additionally, there are many people set to undergo university education and training as opposed to the number of individuals opting for the technical jobs. As such, the demand for the high skills jobs, that is, the management level and higher are likely to increase. There is also an expected decline in the number of technicians leading a skills deficit within the United Kingdom.

Brexit is a political issue whose intent is to withdraw the United Kingdom from the larger European Union. Therefore, the United Kingdom is set to determine the economic policies that guide the country as opposed to domesticating the economic policies of the European Union. As a result, loss of investor confidence owing to the economic and political instability after Brexit could negatively affect the job market and targeting of fresh graduates for training. The loss of investor confidence is set to lead to freezing of employment shortly, that is, 2017-2018. After voting for the country’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2016, parliament needs to invoke Article 50 to facilitate the formal withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Job losses are expected to results owing to the changes set to be put in place in the transition period. Additionally, the United Kingdom is the strongest economy in Europe. Therefore, the impact of Brexit on employability economics could last a shorter while, probably a year, based on the time that it took the UK economy to recover from the 2009 recession.

Brexit is also a significant step that could be used by the country to enhance labor relations and to support the local industries. The United Kingdom has often been the largest contributor to the European Union. Owing to Brexit, the country is set to divert the contribution to the European Union into the development of the local industries. Enhancing the capacity of the local industries is a means of creating jobs for the natives and citizens of the United Kingdom. Third, Brexit is set to impose a tax on commodities that are imported from other states including the EU members. As a result, the country is set to bank on the creation of additional jobs in the economy and to ensure that the economic benefits have direct benefits to the citizens. The country is also likely to be fully autonomous and not to be guided by the current standards of the European Union. Therefore, there is a higher likelihood that the citizens are set to have a preference in taking up the available job opportunities that have been held with the citizens of the other European states. Concisely, the plummeting in the number of jobs is set to decline in the period of 2017-2018 then rise in the period of 2019-205 owing to the independent state of the country.

Conclusion

It is clear that the job market and the qualification skills are evolving as the economy expands. The trend has been evident in the past decades especially during this era of technology. Therefore, the same is expected as we approach the year 2025 where there will be complex technologies in place that will require advanced skills for those who will be operating them.

References

Khallash, S. and Kruse, M., 2012. The future of work and work-life balance 2025. Futures, 44(7), pp.678-686.

Maselli, I., 2012. The evolving supply and demand of skills in the labor market. Intereconomics, 47(1), pp.22-30.

Wong, J., Chan, A.,and Chiang, Y.H., 2012. A critical review of forecasting models to predict manpower demand. Construction Economics and Building, 4(2), pp.43-56.

Tomlinson, M., 2007. Graduate employability and student attitudes and orientations to the labor market. Journal of Education and Work, 20(4), pp.285-304.