West Midlands to create 45,000 jobs over 10 years in £3 billion boost to economy
Around 45,000 new jobs will be created in the West Midlands over the next 10 years in a huge £3 billion boost to the economy centred on the 'golden thread ' of digital innovation, a report claims.
Forecasts by the West Midlands Combined Authority suggest that a new wave of 'low carbon, 21st century sectors will help transform the regional economy, providing thousands of high-skilled, high-wage jobs.
Research suggests that in 10 years ' time around half of all jobs will be changed by automation in the move towards an increasingly digital, low carbon economy focused on green industries and new technology.
Average wages of more than £50,000 can be expected in aerospace and financial services, between £33,000 and £50,000 in the creative content production, video gaming, health and medical technology and electric vehicle manufacturing sectors and up to £33,000 in the logistics and distribution and low carbon housing manufacture sectors.
The WMCA says the digital sector will prove to be the 'bedrock ' on which the future of the region 's growth will revolve - based around eight industrial 'clusters ' which will give the region a competitive advantage and encouraging new investment.
The upbeat analysis follows last summer 's launch by the WMCA of a regional Plan for Growth designed to ignite the eight clusters, including electric vehicles, solar and wind power technology, factory-built homes manufacturing, professional and financial services, health and medical technology, aerospace, video gaming and the logistics and distribution sector.
Julie Nugent, the WMCA 's executive director for economic delivery, skills and communities, said: “Digital is the golden thread running through the 21st century workplace and it will be the bedrock on which the high-skilled, high wage economy of the future will be built.
“The Plan for Growth brings together the private and public sectors to set out a clear road map for economic growth that is strong, clean and benefits all our communities.
“The priority is to build on our existing strengths and drive forward investment in these emerging industries, so they generate even more high value jobs and opportunities for local people in the years ahead.
“The WMCA and its public sector partners are helping to lay solid foundations for this growth, investing billions of pounds to build new transport infrastructure, unlock more derelict land for affordable, energy-efficient housing and commercial workspaces and to support local people into work by capitalising on our strengths, in particular those future industries that can power a regional and national recovery. ”
Now, to help local people learn the right skills to work in the industries of the future, the WMCA is allocating funding from this year 's £154 million skills budget to help provide a range of training courses tailored to those industries most in need of workers.
These include retrofit bootcamps, teaching people how to install green technologies such as heat pumps, solar panels and insulation and digital bootcamps - free, short practical courses to prepare businesses or individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to keep pace with new technology.
Research shows that the West Midlands already boasts the largest emerging technologies cluster outside London and has the highest number of companies in 10 out of the 13 tech and creative sector specialisms, including digital transformation, gaming and software development.
The region also has the highest level of Foreign Direct Investment outside the capital and has become a key technology and financial services hub with big names like HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs moving in, with a clear advantage over the rest of the UK in automotive and transport tech.
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