North Yorkshire and East Riding companies in the manufacturing and engineering sectors are being encouraged to look ahead and prepare their workforces for the onset of automation.

Research by Localis (www.localis.org.uk) (the not-for-profit think tank), found that the Hull City Region (including the East Riding), which has 50,000 employees in these two sectors, has a high percentage of jobs at risk from automation.

As job roles change, companies need to re-skill their staff to help support growth and gain a competitive advantage, as well as give employees an environment that supports the change to more automation.

New roles will require employees to create, maintain and operate automated systems, and to adapt as technologies and processes evolve.

To help businesses prepare their employees, a range of short fully-funded training courses is being offered through the Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) project.

Cat Smith, who is overseeing the delivery of the SSW programme in the region, said: “As automation becomes more commonplace in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, businesses need to accommodate the changes and re-skill staff to ensure that they can take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

"New jobs requiring a higher level of skill will be created, and roles will evolve as the skills that companies require will change. Preparing, retraining and up-skilling staff needs to be an urgent priority.”

The SSW programme is facilitated by Calderdale College, which works with a network of local training providers in the East Riding.

For more information, visit the Web site (www.learndirect.com/funding-options/skills-support-for-workforce).