All-island skills study / Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, Northern Ireland Skills Expert Group.

Recognising that a skilled workforce will be a key resource for a more prosperous all-island economy, both Governments, North and South, agreed to work together to ensure that the required skills are in place to encourage sustained growth. As a first step, the two skills expert groups established North and South, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and the Northern Ireland Skills Expert Group, have worked together to produce this first All-Island Skills Study. It provides, for the first time, a comprehensive all-island analysis of skills demand.

The study demonstrates that the improvement in the all-island skills base over the last decade has been a major contribution to all-island economic and employment growth in terms of its impact on productivity and competitiveness. Skills enhance labour productivity, bolster entrepreneurial capacity and act as a magnet for attracting high-quality inward investment. Going forward the study highlights that skills development will become even more important to all-island economic development. This is against a background of an increasingly competitive global environment where other economies are also rapidly upskilling their workforce.

Includes bibliographical references.