2.3 Global forces are exerting enormous and growing influence over the everyday life of the country, its businesses and people. Increased global competition and liberalisation of markets cause whole industries to shrink or expand, shifting the demand for skills and the availability of job opportunities for particular communities and whole nations. More women are remaining in or re-entering work, part-time employment continues to grow and the age profiles of employees in work are transformed.

2.4 In employment, change is also evident in the introduction of new work practices and new organisational structures, in the application of new technologies, in the reduced size of workplaces and in the design, production and delivery of new products and services. Opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled employment are diminishing, and those with only industry or task-specific skills are increasingly at risk. There are changes too in the time, location, forms and very conceptions of work, embracing not only greater varieties of paid employment than hitherto, but also a range of voluntary, community, caring and domestically-based activities.

2.5 All of these forces impact directly upon people locally - upon their employment prospects, their security, their prosperity, their families and communities and their very sense of place and identity. For many, sometimes concentrated in particular localities, social groups or families, there is the continuing threat of redundancy and the bitter experience of unemployment. Some are trapped in 'employment-poor' communities and households, while others enjoy 'employment-rich' ones. At the same time, as the economy changes, new kinds of work emerge, with new opportunities to use skill and enterprise. One role of a culture of lifelong learning for all is to open up those avenues and opportunities for many more people in our society.

Previous Challenge

Next Challenge

Return to Part Two