UK Government announces new apprenticeship initiative

Author: Joe Peck

Young people in the UK are set to benefit from 120,000 new training opportunities as part of what the Government calls a “radical skills revolution,” giving them the chance to develop skills where they are most needed across the workforce to “rebuild Britain.”

· Construction, health and social care, engineering, and the digital sector are among those set to benefit the most from the new opportunities.

· There is a refocusing of funding away from Level 7 (masters-level) apprenticeships from January 2026 – which has been criticised.

· There is to be an implementation of a 32% increase in the Immigration Skills Charge, which will deliver up to 45,000 additional training places to upskill the domestic workforce and reduce reliance on migration in priority sectors.

In response to this announcement, within which the digital sector has been cited as one of the key areas benefitting from the new opportunities, comments have been by Mike Meyer, Managing Director of Portman Partners and Board Member of the Data Centre Alliance. Mike has an extensive background in recruitment and talent development within the digital infrastructure sector, having spent over 25 years within the industry with first-hand experience across Datacenter, Digital Infrastructure, IT, and Telecoms prior to moving into Executive Search. He has also spoken numerous times on the topic of talent development and bringing up the new generation of data centre professionals, notably at the East London University and at the Tech Capital International Finance Forum.

“It’s encouraging to see the Government investing in skills development across sectors for the next generation of young talent,” says Mike. “With the digital sector being among those set to benefit, I hope to see investment in the skills required for the digital infrastructure industry to help attract and nurture young professionals that the sector desperately needs to sustain itself.

“With the growing demand for data centre capacity continuing to create the need for larger facilities, this has brought with it an unyielding need to fill the ever-increasing job openings in the sector. Though growth is an excellent problem to have, a future pool of fresh, young talent is imperative in a sector that is rapidly aging, with an average age of 53.

“The Government’s ambitions to strengthen the UK’s leadership in advancing and applying AI is creating demand for even larger, more powerful data centres. Alongside significant capital investment, such as the planned construction of the UK’s largest AI data centre in Essex in 2026, there will be an ongoing need for a steady pipeline of skilled talent to design, construct, and manage data centres. The new initiative from the Government is a positive sign that the industry is heading in the right direction.”