But he said the tens of thousands of young people flocking to the NEC marked the future of the workplace in a fast-changing working environment.
The Minister said of the Show: "It is incredible. This is one of the most important days in the skills calendar. There is the best of Britain in this room. We’ve got hundreds of companies here, the public sector, skills competitors and people demonstrating skills. This is the best of the UK - this is the future of our country right here".
“There is a skills deficit – but we are acknowledging that and doing everything we can to improve it. “It’s incredibly important to support days like this ….we are going to become an apprentice and skills nation – that is my dream. “You can hardly get in due the number of young children and students here - seeing what’s on offer."
“We must have the best skills in this country to compete with the rest of the World.
“In this hall is the best of Britain in terms of skills and apprenticeships – and this what our country is going to become. I cannot work my Sky Remote and there are young people here building robots. We have got international companies here...we have the public sector...I think it is important that we have the best skills and apprenticeships that we can offer."
More than 93,000 have registered for the event, which opened on Thursday Nov 17th. There are an estimated 20,000 job opportunities on offer to those that attend.
to view the video of Mr Halfon speaking about skills following the link below
Article courtesy of Apprentice Eye (www.apprenticeeye.co.uk)
