Get workplace ready and future-proof your career

Posted on 7 July 2025 • Career planning, Carers, Labour Market Information

The Open University’s latest research reveals that 54% of UK organisations have a skills shortage, and 71% of young people say they have been considering their career prospects based on which skills are in-demand in the UK.

Using Labour Market Information like this helps you make informed decisions, plan for the future, and explore career paths and sectors. Take a look at key findings from the OU’s research and how you can use it to inform your career:

Workplace readiness

Only 55% of young people feel prepared to enter the workplace after graduation, and 35% of employers also felt that younger generations lacked work readiness. Reflect on how you feel with our 3-minute careers check-in and learn how to make a good first impression when starting a new role.

4 in-demand skills

67% of young people know they need to improve certain skills to feel fully work-ready. The top 4 most cited skills were:

1. Time management (26%)
2. Communication (23%)
3. Leadership (23%)
4. Problem-solving (20%)

Communication and problem-solving skills are built into all OU study, which also proves your time management abilities to employers. 74% of employers also said that young workers lack interpersonal skills, something built into collaborative activities within OU modules.

Learn about analysing your own skills or audit your skills. Discover more skills to future-proof your career.

Tech skills on the rise

Over 1 in 5 employers are concerned about keeping up with technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Learn How to get the best out of GenAI with our webinar from Microsoft and attend one of our practical live workshops on using GenAI in career planning.

Planning for the future

Keeping labour market trends in mind can help inform your career plans and decisions. 32% of employers think the skills shortage will get worse. Causes include Brexit, more people reaching retirement age, the mental health crisis, and the number of ‘economically inactive’ people:

Mental health

Each year, 18 million workdays are lost to poor mental health. Learn how to ask for reasonable adjustments and where to find support with our Mental health and your career webinar. Hear what employers have to say in our panel on having open conversations about Mental health in the workplace.

Caring responsibilities

1 in 5 working age Brits are not in paid employment or seeking it. There are many reasons for this, but a big one is people with full-time caring responsibilities. See our webinar on Managing your career and study alongside caring or our Careers for carers employer panel.

See our webinar on Planning a return to work after an employment break.