Skill Shortages, Demographic Aging, and Training Implications for Skill-Based Economies

Abstract

This article draws on a study of the supply of technician training in engineering and science and technology sectors in Oxfordshire in southeast England. The study conducted between January and May 2004 set out to identify the challenges facing training providers and employers in the context of an increasing age profile of technicians, while the skills demanded of technicians are changing. Some forty interviews were conducted with local providers of training, employers, and industry organizations. The study shows that a key part of the Oxfordshire labor market is undergoing radical changes in structure and function. So far these changes have not been matched by a coherent training response.

Este artículo se apoya en un estudio sobre la oferta de entrenamiento técnico en ingeniería y los sectores de ciencia y tecnología en Oxfordshire, sudeste de Inglaterra. El estudio, efectuado de enero a mayo de 2004, se propuso identificar los retos enfrentados por los proveedores de entrenamiento y los empleadores en el contexto de un perfil de incremento de edad de los técnicos, en tanto que las habilidades solicitadas a los técnicos están cambiando. Se administraron alrededor de cuarenta entrevistas con proveedores locales de entrenamiento, empleadores y organizaciones industriales. El estudio muestra que una parte clave del mercado laboral de Oxfordshire está experimentando cambios radicales de estructura y función. Hasta ahora tales cambios no han sido correspondidos por una respuesta coherente de entrenamiento.

Key Words:

• age-profile
• Oxfordshire
• technicians

关键词:

• 年龄分布廓线
• 牛津
• 技术员

Palabras clave:

• perfil de edad
• Oxfordshire
• técnicos

Acknowledgments

HELEN LAWTON SMITH is Professor of Entrepreneurship in the School of Management and Organizational Psychology at Birbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests are in the geographies of entrepreneurship and innovation, especially with respect to scientific labor markets and university–industry interactions.

Notes

* Frances Waters, who did the majority of the work on this study, died in December 2004. This article is dedicated to her. Thanks are also due to the referees and to John Slater who provided very helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.