Skills

Rail brings highly skilled jobs across all regions of the country. The railway provides a wide range of excellent career opportunities, from data and mechanical engineering to retail and customer service roles. Thousands of positions need to be replaced be the end of the decade, both with experienced and skilled workers, as well as new entrants to the workforce at graduate and apprentice level.

Key Asks:

• Promote rail and transport by celebrating the career opportunities the sector provides. The Government should promote a positive image of transport as a sector which offers local, national, and global career opportunities to work on some of the most exciting agendas of our time, helping to attract and retain talent in the sector.
• Recognise the link between certainty and supplier investment in skills. Businesses of all sizes need the certainty of forward pipelines of work which unlock the return on skills investment. Commit to publishing pipelines of work and smoothing the investment profiles, thus enabling companies to invest in and retain a sustainable and skilled workforce.
• Skills activity needs to be accessible whilst making a return on investment for individuals and employers. The training landscape is complex; apprenticeship funding and salary levels do not always align with employer skills priorities. Work with the rail supply chain to understand skills needs, share and learn from best practice, and maximise the impact of skills development activity.
• Build on supply chain and industry initiatives including the RIA Women in Rail EDI Charter, Young Rail Professionals, and NSAR to ensure that together the impact of initiatives is bigger than the sum of their parts.