With the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) continuing to rise, a new report has revealed that employers based in higher education \u2018cold spots\u2019 – including Fife, Midlothian and North Lanarkshire – are losing on growth due to skills shortages.<\/p>\n
The Open University commissioned Opinium to survey more than 350 workers with responsibility for recruitment during February and March, finding that 35% have had to turn down work, contracts or investment opportunities because they could not find the right skills locally.<\/p>\n
More than half (53%) of employers in cold spot areas said they face competition for talent from larger employers and those in other regions (55%), making it harder for local businesses to attract and retain staff.<\/p>\n
Cold spots, which emerge due to a variety of factors – including local transport, geography, deindustrialisation and economic deprivation – are contributing to lower national productivity which is being driven by regional skills gaps and high recruitment costs.<\/p>\n
Nearly a million people aged 16 to 24 years-old fell into the NEET category, at December 2025, with specific skills gaps faced by employers in higher education cold spots are restricting the ability of businesses to adapt to new technologies. The top five reported skills gaps are: digital and AI skills (50%), creative skills (35%), business services expertise (35%), finance skills (25%) and sustainability skills (23%).<\/p>\n
Employers in cold spots trying to fill these skills gaps also report barriers to attracting new talent or retaining existing workers, including affordability of local housing (22%) and transport and commuting options (22%).<\/p>\n
Nearly two in five (39%) organisations rely primarily on in-house training or up-skilling programmes to develop talent, yet the Open University’s findings suggest an appetite for more flexible solutions. 78% of employers in cold spots agreed that employees would be more likely to undertake training courses if flexible learning options were available, while 73% would be interested in HE-level courses delivered through local colleges.<\/p>\n
Jane Grant, depute director for external engagement and partnerships at The Open University in Scotland, commented: “Scotland\u2019s geography is both a strength and a challenge – while our rural and island communities are vibrant and innovative, they can face real barriers in accessing traditional education and training provision.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s where flexible, supported online learning plays a crucial role.”<\/p>\n
The report concluded with recommendations for how employers can address the challenge of higher education cold spots to accelerate local skills development, including: promoting online learning through partnerships that minimise the need to travel to classroom-based learning, bringing out the hidden talent by widening learning opportunities to more diverse groups, and partnering with further education to deliver relevant courses to fill skills gaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Open University research reveals the extent of the problem in places like Fife, Midlothian and North Lanarkshire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278857,"featured_media":3876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127720,120903],"coauthors":[137126],"class_list":["post-3870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills","category-universities-and-business","tag-edinburgh-lothians","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-glasgow","tag-tayside-fife"],"yoast_head":"\n