A Brake on the British Car Industry?

Résumé:

In September 2012 KPMG published a report outlining the recent successes in the growth and development of the automotive industry in the United Kingdom, pointing to the growth in non-EU markets, foreign direct investment, particularly in the premier automotive segment. In sum all seemed well, but tucked away at the back of the report was the caveat that the industry’s progress could be slowed down due to a serious lack of skilled labour at both the graduate and non graduate levels. This paper seeks to explore the reasons for the skills shortage by looking at the origins of the problem, the role of the education system, the decline of traditional skills and the failure of the auto industry itself to attract high quality graduates. The seriousness of the problem has been recognised for many years, but it is only recently that it has been afforded the attention deserved. This paper will focus on government attempts at both national and regional levels to alleviate the problem through the provision of funding and training schemes and also at the efforts made by the assemblers and supply chain firms to alleviate the problem through internal training, cooperation with Further Education Colleges, Research Institutes and Universities to improve operative and technician skills and managerial competence levels across the entire supply chain.