One fifth of the UK workforce to receive AI training through government partnership with tech firms

The government has partnered with leading technology firms to provide 7.5 million UK workers, one fifth of the workforce, with training in AI skills by 2030. 

This partnership developed from focused discussions last week between Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle and major tech firms. This was the first round of talks focused on identifying where future skills needs to be developed and how to ensure training is accessible.

This announcement comes as the government reveals they have  attracted £44 billion in AI investment in their 12 months in office. Since the release of the AI Opportunities Action Plan in January, 13, 250 new digital jobs have been created.  

Kyle described AI as "the new economic frontier" which will spark growth in British industry. "If we want to realise AI’s incredible potential though, we need to make sure people of all ages and from all parts of the UK have the skills they need for jobs both in and with the technology," he adds. 

AI is a particular focus for Kyle "especially given we expect around 10 million workers to be using AI in their day-to-day role by 2035."  

A range of companies have signed up to this partnership and will provide different expertise on the project. Microsoft have committed to providing AI training to 1 million workers by the end of the year. Meanwhile, SAS and Sage will provide training resources and IBM will roll out targeted training modules, expanding on their pre-existing IBM SkillsBuild training programme. 

The full list of industry partners is: Accenture, Amazon Web Services, Barclays, BT, Google, IBM, Intuit, Microsoft, Sage, SAS and Salesforce.