Staffordshire employers are being encouraged to participate in a newly established employer‑led forum designed to examine the workforce challenges and skills priorities that will influence the region’s economic future.
The inaugural Staffordshire Employer Skills Forum 2026, hosted by Victoria Harte of Axia Solutions and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology (SOTSIOT), is scheduled to take place online on Wednesday 21 October between 9.30am and 10.30am.
The forum will convene employers from multiple sectors to explore recruitment trends, leadership capacity, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and wider workforce development needs.
The event has been created in response to growing employer demand for practical discussion around workforce planning, emerging skills requirements and organisational readiness in an increasingly digital world.
It will feature guest speaker David Thomas, People and Business Support Manager at Siemens, who will share perspectives on how workforce requirements are changing and the skills organisations need to develop for future success.
Victoria said: “Many organisations are facing significant change. Advances in artificial intelligence, changing workforce expectations and evolving skills requirements are creating both opportunities and challenges for employers.
“The Staffordshire Employer Skills Forum has been designed to give employers an opportunity to share experiences, discuss common challenges and help identify the skills that will be most important for our region over the coming years.
“Whether an organisation employs five people or five hundred, their perspective matters. We want to hear from businesses of all sizes and sectors so that we can better understand the opportunities and challenges facing Staffordshire employers.”
Topics for discussion will look at skills that are becoming hardest to recruit, the impact of AI and workforce priorities for the next two to three years.
Unlike a traditional webinar, the event is designed as an employer discussion forum, encouraging participants to share experiences, insights and future workforce priorities.
To register, follow this link.
