AI Skills Vital for UK's Prosperity in AI, Boosting Salaries and Lessening Disparity, Reveals Study by New Skills Builder Partnership
The latest Essential Skills Tracker report, released by the Skills Builder Partnership, has shed light on the crucial role essential skills play in adapting to the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK workforce.
The report, based on a nationally representative survey of UK working adults conducted by YouGov, indicates that the Skills Builder Partnership reached over 1.8 million individuals across 20 countries last year, and has been widely adopted across the UK. The survey, which polled 2,114 UK adults in January 2025, revealed some interesting insights.
A significant disconnect exists among UK workers, with 72% believing AI will replace other people's jobs, but only 19% thinking it will replace their own. However, 87% of UK workers believe essential skills will help them adapt to using new technology, with 55% reporting they've already had to learn new technologies for their job in the past year.
The report also found that regular AI users earn an average of £8,300 more per year than peers with similar skill levels who don't use AI. Moreover, individuals with higher essential skill scores are more likely to use AI frequently at work. Creativity skills, in particular, are strong precursors to AI use. Moving from the lower to upper quartile skill score is associated with a 30% relative increase in AI usage.
However, the report warns of an "AI advantage gap," where those with higher essential skills are adopting AI faster and reaping wage benefits. This could potentially exacerbate existing inequalities.
Tom Ravenscroft, CEO of Skills Builder Partnership, emphasizes the importance of essential skills for thriving with AI. He urges educators and employers to prioritise the explicit teaching and development of essential skills using consistent frameworks like the Universal Framework.
The report recommends that educators and employers close the "AI advantage gap" by focusing on personalized, skills-driven learning and development, leveraging AI to forecast market needs, and integrating cross-functional training with a strong emphasis on future-relevant capabilities.
Key strategies include utilizing AI-powered tools to deliver personalized learning pathways tailored to individual career goals and emerging industry trends, reducing wasted effort on irrelevant skills training. Another strategy is implementing task-level workforce intelligence to break down roles into specific tasks and skills, enabling more flexible and responsive workforce planning that focuses on capabilities rather than traditional job titles.
The report also suggests conducting skills gap analyses to pinpoint critical learning and development investments, focusing upskilling on areas that drive innovation, agility, and alignment with strategic goals, rather than generic training programs. It also recommends bridging siloed capabilities, particularly between AI expertise and domain knowledge like sustainability, by designing integrated, cross-disciplinary training frameworks that address complex real-world problems.
Lastly, the report emphasizes the importance of leveraging community-based and inclusive delivery models to ensure skill development opportunities reach diverse workforce segments at risk of displacement by AI. Together, these approaches aim to democratize AI skill acquisition, promote lifelong learning, and create equitable pathways for workforce adaptation in the AI era.
In conclusion, the Essential Skills Tracker report underscores the importance of essential skills in the AI era. It encourages educators and employers to prioritize the explicit teaching and development of essential skills using consistent frameworks like the Universal Framework to close the "AI advantage gap" and promote equitable workforce adaptation.
- The Essential Skills Tracker report highlights the need for educators and employers to focus on personalized, skills-driven learning and development, including skills training, career development, and education-and-self-development, to help workers adapt to the rise of AI.
- To close the "AI advantage gap" and promote equitable workforce adaptation, it is suggested that educators and employers implement strategies such as utilizing AI-powered tools for personalized learning pathways, integrating cross-functional training, conducting skills gap analyses, and leveraging community-based and inclusive delivery models, with an emphasis on essential skills acquisition.
