I propose demonstrating that it is possible to have a versatile and adaptable workforce by introducing the Futureships Scheme.
These would be somewhat akin to apprenticeships and would be introduced once the return to normal (or the new normal after COVID-19) has happened in workplaces. The scheme would last for five years.
During this period every employer with more than 100 employees would be obliged to offer futureships in a ratio of one to every 50 existing employees. The person in the futureship would begin on the minimum wage, with the prospect of advancing to the normal rate for the job once they could perform the role adequately.
A person in a futureship would earn entitlement to free education or training equivalent to the length of time they spent in a futureship. For example one year working in a futureship would entitle the employee to one year’s free education at a university. Anyone studying or training while working in a futureship (for example by study at the Open University) would receive funding for that study.
Although the scheme would end after five years, any entitlement to free education or training would remain valid until it was used.
Hopefully five years would be long enough to demonstrate to employers that versatility and agility in the workplace is possible, practical and desirable, and it would have put an end to “the only way to get this job is to have already done it”.
The scheme would have the short-term benefit of assisting in reducing unemployment, which is likely to be considerable once that furloughing ends and the economy shakes down into the “new normal”. The long-term benefit would be to have an employment system with better educated and trained employees. The scheme would enhance future-proofing, as it would spread acceptance of the idea that people can move between different employment types successfully and it would also improve access to education and training for the less well-off.
1988-11