An urgent lack of skills could short circuit the UK’s AI ambitions
4 min read
There is a major skills deficit in the UK that risks frustrating the government's AI plans. But there are steps to be taken now to help unleash the technology's transformative potential.
The UK must unlock growth. Not just for domestic prosperity, but to insulate itself from global headwinds in an increasingly unstable world. As the Prime Minister set out earlier this year when he launched his AI Opportunities Action Plan, Artificial Intelligence can play a key part in that mission.
LinkedIn’s new report, AI and the Global Economy, confirms that AI technology really could drive the economic transformation that’s needed. Generative AI (GAI) could unlock £400bn for the UK, equivalent to 16 per cent of GDP in 2023. According to our data, a fifth of the potential productive capacity identified would be unlocked in the education, health and social work sector.
This is a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity.
Businesses are on board, already adjusting their hiring strategies. Two in three leaders wouldn’t hire someone without AI literacy skills - the knowledge needed to leverage AI tools like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT. There has been a six-fold increase in jobs requiring those skills in the last year alone.
But adoption rates remain low in the UK — at 40 per cent, lagging behind the US, India and Germany.
Because right now, businesses are faced with a major challenge: an urgent AI skills shortage. According to our report, AI Skills Trends in the UK: Building the UK’s Future Workforce, fewer than 1 in 100 professionals nationwide are AI talent or even have enough of the skills they need to build and maintain the technology.
The data shows there are some AI hotspots where talent is flourishing. Cambridge, part of the innovation corridor between London and Oxford, which is receiving targeted support from the government, now ranks among the top cities in the world for the concentration of AI talent in the workforce, alongside established global tech hubs like San Francisco.
But we need to grow the talent pipeline up and down the country. Business leaders’ intentions must work in lockstep with the government to unlock Labour’s promised “decade of national renewal".
That looks like national AI-skilling banks integrated into the government’s planned Jobcentre reforms to bring AI skills to the job seekers who need them most. A fully developed system to track AI talent distribution across industries, developed in partnership between Skills England and the Department for Business and Trade. Plus, better, real-time labour market data to track how AI is impacting specific jobs and skills.
We also need to see a fundamental shift in how businesses go about hiring. Our data shows that a skills-based approach would increase the talent pipeline for AI roles by a quarter in the UK. Nearly half (44 per cent) of businesses agree that skills-based hiring could help them find more AI talent.
This means moving from a world where hiring is based purely on existing experience or qualifications, to one where businesses focus instead on the skills required to develop and use AI tools, alongside the people skills like leadership and communication that will become increasingly important as AI frees us up from many repetitive tasks.
But AI’s potential for unlocking growth goes far beyond task automation. Already today, 7 in 10 businesses are using AI to foster innovation and unlock new opportunities for themselves. Employees are being given back time to focus on creativity and human thinking, which will power the UK into its economic future. This is business transformation in action.
To capture the opportunity in front of us, we need to see targeted action by business and government. We’re supporting businesses and job seekers in this by providing AI skills pathways. Now, the government should promote skills-based hiring, supporting workers to easily transition to new jobs by demonstrating their transferable skills. It should launch campaigns to educate the public about AI’s potential and its implications for specific jobs, addressing fears and promoting its benefits. And it should provide tax incentives to offset the cost of AI skills training and ensure the UK workforce is fit for the future.
The Prime Minister is right to identify the transformative potential of AI. This technology will drive incredible change and opportunity. But its benefits will only be realised if deliberate action is taken.
That prize is within the government’s grasp. It has to seize it.
Blake Lawit is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at LinkedIn.
