British workforce confident in their skills, according to survey

The majority of British workers feel confident about their skills, according to The City & Guilds Group’s first Skills Confidence Report.

The report, which surveyed 8,000 works from the UK, US, South Africa and India, found that British workers do not feel threatened by the expected rise in automation and artificial intelligence.

Impact

The study looked at how British workers believe automation would affect their job prospects over the next ten years and found that 42 per cent believe that it would have no impact, whilst 18 per cent feel that it would have a negative impact.

When asked about artificial intelligence, 48 per cent of respondents said that it would have no impact at all on their job prospects, whilst 20 per cent believe that it would have a negative impact.

British workers were found to feel confident about their job, with 62 per cent saying that they are not worried about the rise in automation and artificial intelligence and 69 per cent believing that a machine would not be able to do their job.

The study also showed that 92 per cent of British workers feel confident about their skills, whilst 75 per cent are confident about the future of their job, believing that it will still exist in ten years’ time.

Leadership

Also highlighted in the survey was the problem of skills gaps, with nearly 30 per cent of UK workers recognising a skills gap in their leadership team.

Respondents were asked what skills they believe would be important for their job prospects in ten years’ time, with 61 per cent saying that leadership is the most important. This was followed by management skills at 60 per cent and people skills at 52 per cent.