Business Barometer Reveals Urgent Need for Skills Planning in Wales
The 'Business Barometer: Skills for today and tomorrow: how employers can plan for future skills', is a survey of over 2,000 UK organisation leaders and 1,000 Gen Z adults.
In Wales, 139 organisation leaders and 80 Gen Z adults (under the age of 25) were surveyed and reported that more than half (58%) of organisations are currently experiencing a skills shortage, the highest of all UK nations. At the same time, only a third (31%) of those Welsh organisations have specific initiatives in place to recruit, retain or train under-25s.
Over half (54%) of Gen Z respondents in Wales are aware of the country's skills challenges and are factoring that into their career thinking — but they may not be receiving the guidance or support they need to become truly work-ready: 73% are considering careers based on where skills are most needed
66% would stay longer with an employer that offers training and development
This gap in expectations is particularly stark at a time when digital, AI and sustainability skills are increasingly essential. While over half of Gen Z (58%) are already working in or interested in AI, 20% of Welsh employers say they're not confident they can deliver their AI strategies due to talent constraints.
Dr Scott McKenzie, Assistant Director, Learning, Skills and Innovation at The Open University in Wales, said:
'The data is clear: there's a mismatch between employer intentions and practical action. But there's also a real opportunity here. Welsh employers can start by building structured skills plans, work with education providers invest in flexible training, and opening up opportunities to more diverse talent. The organisations who act now — who take learning seriously, at every level — will be the ones who will thrive in the years ahead.'
Baroness Martha Lane Fox CBE, Chancellor at The Open University added:
'Employers have an incredible opportunity — and responsibility — to shape the future workforce. The talent is out there. Young people are motivated, they're digitally savvy, and they want to contribute. But they need clear training pathways, practical support, and employers willing to invest.
'While there are economic challenges at this moment for employers, the smartest organisations won't just wait for skills to arrive — they'll build them, inclusively and proactively, to fuel growth and resilience.'
While global headlines have amplified political division over ED&I policies, the report reveals continued support for inclusion in the UK. The data shows that 80% of employers in Wales say ED&I is important to their organisation while 42% believe it will become even more important over the next five years.
However, 25% have no initiatives in place for underrepresented or disadvantaged groups, including returners, career changers, and workers with disabilities or neurodiversities. This presents a missed opportunity to widen the talent pipeline and reduce economic inactivity — particularly in sectors and areas facing acute workforce shortages.
The Business Barometer has tracked the skills shortage for nearly a decade and while the proportion of employers facing a skills shortage has stabilised since last year, the issue remains widespread across sectors and regions. The skills gap remains one of the most pressing issues for organisations in Wales, with nearly a third (38%) expecting it to worsen over the next five years.
Among those currently affected, Welsh organisations report: Recruitment and training is more difficult due to the increase in national insurance (54%), increase in the minimum wage (56%) and economic uncertainty (72%)
60% report increased workload on other staff
43% cite reduced productivity
37% say they've scaled back growth or expansion plans
20% lack confidence in delivering their AI plans over the next five years
Despite this, fewer than half of Welsh employers (36%) have a formal skills plan in place and even though the data shows training boosts retention, 30% of organisations say they hesitate to train staff for fear they'll leave.
To find out more how employers can address the organisation skills shortage visit The Open University Business Barometer 2025
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Wales Online
38 minutes ago
- Wales Online
I dropped out of university – my business turns over £6m a year
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Wales Online
38 minutes ago
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Couple unable to sell 20-room home next to Welsh canal which keeps leaking
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'Not that we were aware of the significance of any of this at the time we bought the property,' Mr Lester told WalesOnline. 'Especially as the canal had no record of leaks or collapses in its previous history. But we very quickly realised there was a constant flow of water from the canal bank. 'Our unlined pond was kept full all through the driest periods with leaks from the canal and many leaks into all the neighbours' gardens including our own. At the time we had no idea or warning of the potential danger as would be required these days to be in the estate agent's details. 'The more recent legislation about declaring such things as subsidence or flood potential has made it impossible for us to sell this large house enabling us to move to a more manageable and comfortable property in our old age.' For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. Their mansion is at the bottom of a steep bank which runs below the canal towpath. The canal can be seen in the image on close inspection (Image: John Myers ) Article continues below It comes after the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which is charged with maintenance of canals and rivers across the UK, said the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal was suffering from a severe water shortage and may have to close. It has led to the Lesters asking where the water is going and claiming the issue is a huge one for homeowners living beside the canal which runs from Brecon to Cwmbran. In an interview with WalesOnline Mr Lester asked: 'Why has the canal never run out of water before? Why are we talking about this now?' Due to the leaks the value of their property has diminished from £1.2m to £750,000. But they're unable to sell it anyway because no-one will touch it once they see the issues the house potentially faces with potential subsidence and integrity of the land around the canal. Former world-renowned dressmakers Mr and Mrs Lester, aged 84 and 83 and who live in the 20-room property which they can no longer properly look after, believe CRT is partly to blame for the leaky canal. They claim the canal has been poorly maintained ever since the first and worst landslide in 1975 which they say almost killed them. The landslide of 1975 as taken by Mr Lester (Image: Charles Lester ) Recalling what happened then Mr Lester said: 'I came home at lunchtime from work and there were great jets coming from the bottom of the bank. Trish and I were standing in front of the bank and 20,000 tonnes of water came straight at us. 'You don't run when something like that comes towards you. You can't. You just pray. "Luckily our lives were saved because the trees came roots-first and hit the stone wall and created a sort of dam which diverted the water and the rocks, boulders, and debris sideways. 'What had happened was the canal had become derelict in the sixties and was closed. In the sixties boating enthusiasts got together and asked British Waterways as it was then if the canal could be opened back up for tourism and leisure and British Waterways agreed to it. 'When the canal was opened originally in 1799 it would have been clay-lined with puddling clay which was very effective and didn't leak. But in reopening the canal to boaters in the modern world British Waterways dredged the canal deeper. 'They did it to make it appropriate for the propellers and engines of the boats but in doing so they took much of the clay-lining out. What you've got now is just continuous leaks all across the network. 'We could not afford any legal support and we were walked all over by British Waterways. We lost our gas main and our sewers were very badly damaged but British Waterways refused to do anything to restore it nor were we offered any compensation. We had to replace and restore our home ourselves.' The Lesters say their horizontal fence shows the land is not stable which they say is caused by the leaky canal (Image: Charles Lester ) CRT took over from the now-disbanded British Waterways in 2012. Mr Lester continued: 'CRT seems to think that they can just dig holes to enlarge the canal but the land is very porous and water soaks away very easily. "Half a mile downstream from Llangattock is a prime example where they greatly enlarged the canal to form a marina yet one can see large amounts of water coming under the towpath into the field." Mrs Lester said: 'After the canal bank collapsed here in 1975 British Waterways dug the canal deeper and steepened the bank. The bank was also concreted but that didn't stop the leaks and we've had issues ever since. Parts of the bank are damp.' She claimed: 'When you have boats drawn by horse that is a very different thing to now with the engines and propellers and it just doesn't work anymore. It really is a case of shoddy engineering and bad maintenance.' The most recent landslide in 2014 caused the Lesters' fence to move several metres down the bank and become almost horizontal. The couple say the danger is that the bank is so steep that it is beyond what is called the safe angle of repose [it rises 23 metres from the garden at an angle of almost 45 degrees] and with the movement it became hazardous because of large stones and debris continually falling down. 'I still feel apprehensive about that body of water,' Mrs Lester said. 'It's horrible. Every time you hear a crack of a branch you fear it's another landslide. 'They've got sensors along the canal now monitoring any movement of the canal and towpath . It makes you think: 'What is going on that we don't know about?' We often hear trees come down at times of calm weather - classic examples of trees coming down because the ground is damp and soft from leaks. It's terrifying.' CRT has installed sensors across the waterway to monitor any movement in the soil on either side of the waterway and has worked to install a deeply anchored metal mesh wiring across parts of the steep banks beside the canal to try to ensure debris doesn't slip down the banks. A huge mesh cage has been installed over the bank beside the Lesters' home. The mesh was installed in 2018 but vegetation has now grown over it in many places and the Lesters claim parts of the mesh has rotted. 'It looks like the mesh you see sometimes on the side of motorways,' Mrs Lester said. Parts of the outside of the canal bank across the network have now been covered in this steel mesh wire to prevent further issues but the Lesters say they still haven't received assurances their home is safe (Image: Charles Lester ) Further issues arrived for the Lesters when they realised they were 'trapped' in the property unable to sell. They said because they legally have to declare the issues beside their home and, they claim, CRT has refused to provide any formal assurances that the house is safe with a written certificate, no-one will buy the property. In 2016 the couple accepted an offer from a potential buyer of £825,000 but the sale fell through over safety fears. 'I'd built our retirement home in west Wales and we had to sell it because no-one will buy Llanfoist House from us,' Mr Lester said. 'That's when we decided to take CRT to court. We have a legal arm on our insurance policy which covered legal costs up to £100,000. We used that to take CRT to court but we got through the lot and basically ran out of time and money. "We were hoping for some kind of compensation and a certificate to say the work that has been done by CRT makes our home safe. That would allow us to sell the house. But they won't provide us with any assurances. We're now in a position where we've had multiple offers withdrawn and we're stuck here.' A spokesman for CRT said: 'The canal is an engineering marvel from the industrial age that attracts visitors from around the globe. Our charity works to keep it open and navigable for people to enjoy and for the benefit of wildlife. "We're constantly carrying out maintenance and repairs including monitoring for leaks or movement in the canal's embankments. All canals have a demand for water to stay open and navigable. "Every time a boat passes through a lock on the Mon & Brec, it takes water downstream to where it eventually will flow into the River Usk. Evaporation and transpiration can also see canals lose as much as an inch of water on hot summer days while an underlying 'sweetening flow' is always needed to support ecology and avoid canals turning stagnant.' The Lesters say the value of their property has diminished from £1.2m to £750,000 (Image: John Myers ) On Wednesday campaigners for the canal protested outside the Senedd calling for water levels to be 'safeguarded' before the canal becomes unusable for boats and the public. Senedd members added their voices to a 14,000-strong chorus of calls for urgent action to avert a 'catastrophic' drying out of the canal. CRT relies on water abstraction to supply the canal, with up to 90% coming from the River Usk, and held exemptions until 2018 when regulations on licensing changed. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) oversees licensing, limiting the volume of water that can be abstracted on environmental grounds to protect special areas of conservation. James Evans, the Tory Senedd member for Brecon and Radnorshire, similarly warned the canal is on the brink of closure due to NRW's "unworkable" decisions. Mr Evans said water levels significantly fell within two weeks of the licence coming into force in March with CRT making clear it cannot afford to spend £1m a year buying water. CRT says it can no longer afford the water abstraction licence to take water from the River Usk to replace the water the canal is losing while in the Senedd on Wednesday Labour's Carolyn Thomas also told members: 'The licence from NRW allows a lower level of extraction than has historically been allowed. 'Within 10 days of these regulations coming into force earlier this year there was a problem. [CRT] have calculated that if the licence water restrictions had been in force in the last 20 years the canal would only have been open for four summers. It also means money is not available for vital maintenance… to ensure the canal remains navigable and leaks get fixed.' This week the future of the canal was discussed in the Senedd but campaigners say they don't have any further answers (Image: John Myers ) Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister and a former UK minister responsible for canals, told the Senedd responsibility is shared between Wales and Westminster on the issue of water abstraction. He said: 'If there was an easy answer we'd have done it already. "It isn't an easy answer. What this will require is bringing people around the table together. It's not one or the other: we need to find the solutions for the canal while also protecting the ecological status of the Usk.' Mark Flood, member of the the Preserve and Protect the Mon and Brec (PPMB) campaign group who lives aboard his boat on the canal, said: "It's encouraging that, after nearly five months, the Welsh Government has acknowledged the need to actively engage in finding a long-term solution to the canal's water supply issues. I'm hopeful that the upcoming meeting between the government and key stakeholders will lead to meaningful progress. Article continues below "But having heard the deputy first minister's response I'm not convinced that he recognises how urgent it is to find a solution that safeguards the canal so that my home and canal businesses will survive. Like many who live and work on the canal I won't feel truly secure until a permanent solution is agreed and implemented without delay."
South Wales Argus
5 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
All the agriculture grants available to Gwent farmers
The reopened grants added woodland assessments, wildfire checklists, stone wall repairs and the hosting of educational visits as additional capital items available for grants. As farming is a devolved power to the Welsh Government, the grant only applies to English farmers. Typically in instances like this, the Welsh Government may be given their own pot of funding to use how they see fit. However, while no announcements have been made of any new schemes in Wales, there are already a number of similar grants available. The majority of these are through the Sustainable Farming Scheme. While many have closed for the year, there are still a number currently available for farmers in Gwent: The Woodland Creation Grant is open until November 21, and provides funding for the planting of trees, the installation of fencing and gates and offers maintenance payments for any loss of agricultural income. The Food Business Accelerator Scheme is open for applications until March 2026 and provides investment for food businesses to purchase assets such as equipment, land or software, as well as support for related expenses. The Habitat Wales Scheme 2025 is open to all farmers with 'semi-natural areas', such as plants and wildlife that they support but don't cultivate on their land. You can apply online, but there are quite specific criteria you must meet in order to be eligible. Organic Support Payments are available for organic agriculture producers who have full organic certification. Payments are per hectare of eligible land and the payment rates differ depending on the type of land. There are also a number of small grants windows throughout the year focusing on different aspects of the environment and efficiency. Unfortunately, the Environment Scheme (Water - May 21 to July 1), Growing for the Environment (Crops - June 2 to July 11) and Woodland Creation (March 3 to April 11 & May 19 to June 27) are all closed now - but it's worth marking the dates in calendars for next year, if applicable. Nick Park is the director of Cwmbran-based Accountants & Tax Advisors, Green & Co, and a member of the Country Landowners Association (CLA) National Taxation Committee.
