Skills and Recruitment, tourism, Uncategorised

WIT Wednesday August – Employment, Skills,Training: Industry Support

Our August WIT Wednesday welcomed experts from across the industry with a key focus on providing industry support across employment, skills and training.

WIT Wednesday Webinar: Employment, Skills & Training – Support

The Scottish Government forecast that unemployment could rise from around 4% to anywhere between 10% to 15%, taking one to three years to recover to pre-pandemic rates. With the ongoing challenges and uncertainty surrounding the tourism sector, not to mention the end of the furlough scheme, further redundancies are sadly to be expected.

We hope that the resources, presentations and links we share with you below will be of use to colleagues across the industry.

Thank you again to our panelists – please read on for a summary from each of our speakers, with directory of support and resources below. You can also tune in to the live recording here.

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Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism outlined plans to put pressure on UK government to extend the Furlough scheme/Job support package and has been working in partnership with tourism groups and associations to ensure the tourism sector receives fair solutions and support. PACE (partnership action for continued employment) is also bringing together all of the public agencies to respond to in a human way to offer support to those facing redundancy. PACE Facing Redundancy Brochure.

Lawrence Durden, Sector Manager, Tourism, Skills Development Scotland, STERG (Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group) shared some of the headlines from Skills Development Scotland broad impact study. Economic impact is not falling equally, and hospitality and tourism is fairing far worse. Rural areas are particularly hard hit and younger workers, and women are more likely to be impacted. Women also make up 54% of tourism sector meaning women are even more likely to be significantly impacted. Skills Development Scotland are responding and continue to respond, with many online tools for career services, online learning and support for employers and employees.

Visit Skills Development Scotland for more information on their COVID-19 Response.

View full presentation: Lawrence Durden WIT Tourism Sector Insight July.

Professor Anna Leask, Tourism Management, Business School, Edinburgh Napier University discussed a wide range of opportunities for skills development, learning and qualifications with the university, and highlights how to get recognition and accreditation for prior learning.

View full presentation: Anna Leask WIT Presentation August.

Julie Grieve, CEO of Criton, and from the Women in Tourism Board, gave a brief overview of mentoring opportunities through WIT. Contact directly julie.grieve@criton.com for more info or to connect with a mentor, or become a mentor through WIT.

David Cochrane, Chief Executive of HIT Scotland provided an update from the organisation, outlining their focus for more resilience-based scholarships in the future, and looking at initiatives to try and keep great people in the industry. The Learn @ Home app is a really useful tool and you can find out more info here .