Future Jobs Scotland
Future Jobs Scotland
Meeting the challenge: now and into the future
Future Jobs Scotland is a roadmap for universities, government, and employers to build on good practice to deliver the jobs, skills, and opportunities of tomorrow. Published today, 17 September 2026, Future Jobs Scotland has been developed following conversations with employers and businesses as part of the higher education sector’s ongoing response to ensure graduates are equipped with the skills employers need now.
Labour markets in Scotland, the UK and globally are undergoing significant change. Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), a challenging economic environment and long-term demographic shifts are reshaping the skills employers need and the opportunities available to those entering the workforce. This is happening in real time whilst the UK and Scottish Governments are developing their own approaches to skills needs. In Scotland, a national skills plan is under development, and the recent Tertiary Education and Training (Scotland) Act is intended to simplify the skills landscape and funding in Scotland. Meanwhile the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy aims to align the post-16 skills system and the needs of employers to eight high-growth sectors.
Universities need to be responsive to these changes and this demands action on two fronts:
- Responding to today’s challenges.
- Redesigning for the future.
Read our new publication Future Jobs Scotland to find out more.
Key Points:
- Universities and businesses have a long history of working together and Future Jobs Scotland is about taking those partnerships to the next level.
- Discussions and engagement with businesses have brought out three key themes and the report shows how universities are responding to these challenges.
- Employers value what graduates bring to the table and the report calls on the Scottish Government to move beyond the binary vocational vs academic debate and recognise universities as a core provider of skills, alongside colleges and training providers.
- Future Jobs Scotland is only one part of a much wider conversation beyond skills and the report introduces some trends from the next stage of the Future Framework, co-owned by Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government.