Building Swansea Bay’s Workforce of Tomorrow

Swansea Bay is building an economy that will look very different over the next decade, with new opportunities emerging across energy, engineering, construction, tourism, hospitality and digital technology. The priority now is to make sure young people across the region can see that future clearly enough to prepare for it and feel part of it.

That means giving them a broader picture of the careers being created, the skills those careers will require and the routes they can take to reach them.

The workforce and skills agenda sits beneath almost every major economic opportunity now taking shape across South West Wales. Investment in floating offshore wind, onshore wind, construction, utilities and city centre regeneration will all depend on people with the right capabilities, but it also gives us the chance to open up a much wider range of career pathways for the next generation.

This work needs to begin early. Through the South West Wales Regional Skills Partnership and the Skills and Talent Programme of the Swansea Bay City Deal we have been developing pilot projects with schools, colleges and universities to introduce young people to the skills the region will need in the years ahead.

Primary schools are an important part of that picture; the children in classrooms today will be entering the workforce as many of these investments gather pace. Helping them understand the variety of opportunities available can shape the subjects they choose, the qualifications they pursue and the ambitions they develop.

Construction is a good example. It is often associated with a relatively narrow group of trades, yet the sector offers around 2,000 different roles, ranging from on-site work to engineering, design, project management and business ownership.

A young person who begins as a bricklayer or carpenter may go on to manage a site or run a company. The task is not to steer them away from vocational careers, but to show how far those careers can take them and how continued skills development can create new choices.

Engineering offers a similarly strong foundation. We may not yet know the title of every role that will emerge from floating offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture or battery storage, but many will build on core engineering capabilities. Those foundations can then be developed through more specialist training and micro-credentials as technologies and employer needs evolve.

Floating offshore wind demonstrates just how broad the opportunity can be. The workforce will extend far beyond the installation of turbines at sea. It will include the construction of platforms and anchors, electricity connections, marine operations, environmental assessment, consenting and long-term maintenance.

We are already supporting young people from the Port Talbot area to develop seafaring skills, while the environmental work around future projects creates pathways for those interested in marine life, ecology and the natural environment. These are opportunities that bring together practical, technical and scientific skills within the same developing industry.

The most effective skills planning will come from learning directly from the businesses leading these projects. We have been working with the successful floating offshore wind Round Five developers and test companies to understand their experience and ensure that colleges and universities can shape provision around the capabilities employers will need.

We are also developing a single regional skills strategy to bring the different strands of this work together. A clear ten-year plan can give employers and investors confidence that South West Wales is preparing its workforce across sectors including engineering, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality.

Businesses are part of that preparation too. Through the Skills and Talent Programme, we have funded Fit for Offshore support to help companies gain the credentials required to enter future supply chains. Eight of the 12 Welsh businesses accepted onto the programme came from this region.

Celtico provides another example of what can be achieved through collaboration. This group brings manufacturing and engineering companies together so they can pursue contracts that may be beyond the scale of an individual business.

Collectively, those companies represent more than 2,500 employees and can meet the size and turnover expectations of larger customers. They have already secured a contract with an Italian company for a project in North Wales, building experience and profile ahead of further opportunities.

The same sense of possibility can be seen in Swansea’s city centre. Investment in the city’s arena, visitor attractions, hospitality and accommodation is strengthening Swansea’s position as a place to study, live, work and visit throughout the year.

For young people, that creates opportunities at different stages of their working lives. A role in a restaurant, hotel, venue or visitor attraction may provide employment while studying, but it can also become the start of a career in management, operations or business ownership.

We have already seen how strongly people respond when clear routes into growing sectors are created. A skills pilot in Pembrokeshire gave unemployed young people and those not in education, employment or training access to courses in welding, fabrication, health and safety and introductory engineering.

In six months, 234 people completed training, with some moving into jobs and others progressing towards further study. The result showed the value of giving people practical access to industries they may not previously have considered.

South West Wales has an increasingly strong story to tell about its future. By taking that story into schools, linking it to real career routes and aligning training with the investments already being planned, we can help young people see that the region’s next phase of growth is something they can help to build.