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The future of work

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GPR - Rochester View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GPR - Rochester Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 February 2022 at 8:42am
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by RR1972 RR1972 wrote:

We need a more skilled more qualified less sickly work force tbh. By skilled i don’t just mean academically , tradesmen and women etc

One of the things that annoyed me about Blair was the target to put half of school leavers through Uni. There was a headlong rush to turn Poly's into Uni's and a whole tranche of education became academised uneccesarily. It's quite revealing ... it suggests what Blair's perspective was on jobs and what he valued in education. There wasn't any room in it for technical training and manufacturing. Contrast the UK's approach to manufacturing with Germany's. The policy of deindustrialisation was an entirely political choice. Thatcher in particular listened to Patrick Minford. Where there were opportunities to modernise the UK allowed asset strippers in. 

There have been far too many mistakes made by British governments over the years to list but the asset stripping away of our ability to manufacture is by far the greatest. Coal, steel, shipbuilding, automotive, water, power ....... the list goes on. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GPR - Rochester Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 February 2022 at 8:50am
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Read this interesting article on the Welsh birth rate which to me feels a relevant addition to this thread: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60405441

We're projected to have a working adult percentage of just 58% in future. This is a real issue. In one sense if there are fewer jobs around it might balance out if we're lucky. What wories me is that our GVA is so low. This is because the Welsh economy acts as a semi-periphery to the SE/London core. It's responsible for the comparative low wages. This in turn drives demographic change and opens up communities to predatory economics such as the proliferation of second homes and AirBnB's etc. The GERW report https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1540498/Government-Expenditure-and-Revenue-Wales-2019.pdf demonstrates that between our demographic and GVA deficits, Wales' tax receipts are nearly £7Bn a year lower than they should be.

The economic priority in Wales has to be building transport infrastructure and investment in Welsh enterprises all the way up the supply chains in order to get goods and services into the market.We can't just be happy to supply raw materials and low value goods. I'll give an example. I was shocked to learn that the majority of Welsh milk is now processed in England. This means that we've lost all the value added by the Welsh dairies that have now closed. We should be producing finished dairy products of high quality to supply the retail sector. More jobs, better wages all lost due to a dysfunctional economic model. 

This is where the BBC article interests me. If we're to have a smaller working age population, we will need a significant increase in productivity to ensure a decent standard of living ... otherwise, will the birth rate drop even further? Will even more of our young talent leave Wales? Can we invest, use automation to our advantage?

On the specific point of Welsh milk. The fightback is underway. We now ( for 18 months) have a milk delivery service in our area which is thriving and plans are afoot for this to be rolled out to wider areas. All products - milk, cream, cheese, yoghurts, butter are made in Wales from Welsh materials. Our family actively support Welsh production - dairy, meat, seafood. Not only is the quality high but the environmental impact is lower. The downside - you play a little more. However if we are going to get credibility back into our local manufacturing it has to start small & requires local support for the local entrepreneur.

There are many many enterprises throughout Wales deserving of support and it starts with us the consumer. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 February 2022 at 12:15pm
Two good posts GPR. This has been one of my frustrations with Wales. We have a habit of letting things happen to us and moaning about it after. You're right. Charity starts at home. As a nation we need to learn to get a grip on things for ourselves. Unfortunately I think the Welsh Govt offers poor leadership on developing the Welsh economy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ap sior Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 February 2022 at 2:01pm
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Two good posts GPR. This has been one of my frustrations with Wales. We have a habit of letting things happen to us and moaning about it after. You're right. Charity starts at home. As a nation we need to learn to get a grip on things for ourselves. Unfortunately I think the Welsh Govt offers poor leadership on developing the Welsh economy.

Problem also is that MNC's prey on smaller businesses. They keep an eye out for successful smaller/developing businesses, then when they reach certain targets they come in with offers to buy them out. Control then goes out of Wales, and almost inevitably the factory/facility closes and disappears for good. 

Not sure what can be done about that to be honest.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ap sior Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 February 2022 at 2:03pm
Re the above, forgot to mention that the tax revenue also leaves Wales.
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