Future-proof your workforce with Skills to Advance training

SOLAS is providing new upskilling and reskilling opportunities for people in employment, and supporting companies to develop their workforce, through collaborating with Education and Training Boards (ETBs) across the country

Mary Lyons, Director of Enterprise, Employees and Skills, SOLAS, says Further Education and Training (FET) is working hard to support employees and businesses struggling to adapt to the new challenging business environment, by engaging at a local level to offer both blended and online learning opportunities.

“Our focus is on developing more agile learning opportunities for people who need to upskill or reskill,” she explains. “More than 9,500 employees participated in Skills to Advance training last year, and in response to demand, we are increasing the number of opportunities available in 2022.”

Skills to Advance (STA) is a policy initiative in FET aimed at developing the skills of people in employment. Developed in 2018 by SOLAS and the Department of Education and Skills, it is being rolled out by the 16 Education and Training Boards around the country.

Skills to Advance enables targeted skill development for employees who are in lower-skilled work and who need more opportunities to advance in their working lives and careers, to sustain employment, to avoid displacement, or to avail of emerging job opportunities.

Subsidised Training

Equally, SMEs benefit from assistance by identifying skill needs and gaps. Research shows a 1% increase in training days leads to a 3% increase in productivity (CEDEFOP, 2007). Individuals and companies are often not aware of the highly subsidised, flexible training opportunities available to address skill needs, which enhance employability and business growth.

Skills to Advance both anticipates and responds to skill needs. It targets those facing changes in their work due to technology advances, changing work practices, and market diversification. Further Education and Training opportunities offered through Skills to Advance incorporate digital, socio-emotional, and technical skills development, to enhance employee skills and support increased productivity in Irish SMEs.

Now more than ever, initiatives such as Skills to Advance are critical, to allow us to respond effectively to the external challenges, including those arising from Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The structure of our workforce has changed dramatically over the past few months and will continue to change and evolve as we progress to a new business environment.

Adaptable Workforce

This new environment will require a workforce that is highly adaptable and flexible. To ensure that workers can achieve this agility, there is a real need for continuous upskilling and reskilling, to not only perform their current tasks, but to take on additional ones to allow them to sustain and grow business.

Skills to Advance works collaboratively with the ETBs, employer bodies and key stakeholders to design, develop and cascade targeted regional and sectoral initiatives and to provide these agile and relevant upskilling opportunities. These initiatives include Leadership and Management, Developing Leaders for Hospitality and Tourism, Green Skills, and Digital Skills for Business Improvement.

The focus of developing skills to future-proof our workforce in vulnerable occupations, businesses and sectors, is central to the core mission of the Skills to Advance initiative. Recent events only highlight that those in vulnerable sectors run the risk of being most impacted, and need to be engaged in lifelong learning to reduce their vulnerability.