Skills England has published a new report which exposes what it describes as a “major AI skills gap” holding UK businesses back.

The report comes after the government previously estimated that AI adoption could boost the UK economy by up to £400 billion by 2030 through enhancements in innovation and workplace productivity.

Research commissioned by Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) shows that by 2035, around 10 million workers will be in roles where AI will be part of their role or responsibilities.

To address the skills gap, and unlock growth potential, Skills England is launching several new tools to support wider and more responsible AI adoption.

The AI Skills Framework identifies relevant technical, responsible, and non-technical skills needed for different job roles and at different levels.

The AI Skills Adoption Pathway Model shows how organisations typically progress through stages of AI adoption, from initial awareness to strategic scaling.

The Employer AI Adoption Checklist provides structured prompts to help employers assess their AI skills readiness, identify workforce gaps, and upskill.

The tools have been developed by Dr Nisreen Ameen at Royal Holloway, University of London in partnership with Skills England, and through funding provided by the British Academy’s Innovation Fellowships scheme.

The tools have been developed after the report found a number of barriers to AI upskilling across 10 industries.

Skills England examined sectors including defence, life sciences, financial services and construction.

The resulting report found six main structural barriers to AI upskilling including low foundational digital literacy in sectors with lower digital maturity, high training costs and limited employer understanding of workforce AI skills requirements.

Skills England said that the inconsistent use of the term “AI skills” also creates confusion for employers, educators and learners.

The report also highlighted the fragmentation of the training ecosystem, with limited coordination and progression pathways and the length of mandatory education, systematic lag and complexities in curriculums adapting to emerging AI tools and sector specific needs.

As an example, the report said that in the advanced manufacturing sector, AI is being used for automation predictive maintenance and robotics, but the growing AI skills gap is exacerbated by an aging workforce.

The report said that AI opportunities are opening up for construction, including drone-assisted surveying for land assessments, and augmented reality for on-site safety simulations, but adoption is slow, with a lack of basic digital literacy identified as a key issue for the sector.

A key common barrier to adoption is poor employer understanding of what is meant by AI skills and what their staff need to learn, which the report said is particularly prevalent among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

“This report makes clear that too many employers are still unsure how to begin their AI journey and that’s why, through Skills England, we’re working hand-in-hand with industry to equip the workforce with the tools they need for the future,” said Jacqui Smith, minister for skills. “By doing so, we’re not just preparing our economy for the jobs of tomorrow - we’re raising living standards and putting more money in people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change.”

The new tools are launched after Nvidia recently announced a collaboration with the UK government to boost AI capabilities in the country.

The government said at the time that around 7.5 million UK workers will gain essential AI skills by 2030 through its industry partnership with major tech players such as Google, IBM and Microsoft over the next five years.

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