APM responds to Chancellor's announcement
David Thomson, Head of External Affairs
| Association for Project Management
2 min read
We welcome the general intent behind the Chancellor’s package for economic restart. It is clear that despite the scale of the measures announced, there will be a need to revise and develop further measures to adapt to the challenges ahead, both in the short term and long term.
In the short term, investing in skills and employment opportunities will be paramount as we see strong evidence that an increasing individual demand for training and upskilling is crashing against a dramatic fall in organisational investment in training. Support and investment in project apprenticeships – which offer great employability skills – is a very practical way to invest in people.
It is important that the recovery has ‘locked in’ long term solutions that will decarbonise the economy, invest in infrastructure (both physical and digital) to support the development of economic trends which were underway before COVID-19, and invests in skills associated with project management.
Our member feedback indicates that the skills the project profession offers are more in demand than ever, and are crucial is responding to the challenge of change as a result of the pandemic. Project professionals have adaptable skills so can transfer these to where the economy and society requires them, as demonstrated by the civil service over the past few months.
Looking forward, our recent research (APM ‘The Golden Thread, 2019, 2020) demonstrates there is increasing evidence of the importance of project management skills as pivotal to the successful setup and delivery of projects of all sizes. As much of this ‘project restart’ will be delivered via projects, it is important to invest in project skills, to ensure there is adequate capability to deliver these projects – and project restart itself – successfully.
