Britain to Spend $4 Billion to Train Local Workers

The British government announced it intends to spend £3 billion ($4 billion) on training programs as part of a strategy aimed at training local workers to fill labor market shortages and reduce reliance on foreign labor.

The British Department for Education explained in a statement on Tuesday that this step aims to reorient the system towards young local talent, by providing 120,000 new training opportunities in key sectors such as construction, engineering, health and social care, and digital technology.

The statement added that a 32% increase in immigration fees, which aims to deter companies from hiring foreign workers, will provide up to 45,000 additional training opportunities to train the local workforce and reduce reliance on immigration in priority sectors.

This comes at a time when the latest statistics show that 21.4% of working-age Britons are neither employed nor looking for work, a percentage that has been steadily rising since the COVID-19 pandemic.