Page 28 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan

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2.17 Brexit
The triggering of Article 50 on the 29th of March 2017 marked the beginning of the process of the UK leaving the European Union over a 2 year timescale. At present the potential impacts of Brexit remain unclear which provides a significant challenge in understanding the future demands of business and the potential impacts on the labour market as a result. Evidence from the Centre for Cities highlights the importance of exports to the EU from the region and Swansea was ranked as 7th highest in terms of total percentage of exports to the EU with 60% of exports being to the EU.36 The McKinsey Global Institute has highlighted that improving productivity will be essential to the success of a post Brexit economy as currently ‘66% of UK employees work in companies with below-average productivity’.37
The potential impacts of Brexit within the region have been identified within the individual sector profiles through engagement with employers.
36 http://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Cities-Outlook-2017-Web.pdf 37 http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/europe/productivity-the-route-to-brexit-success
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Policy Context