Private enterprise is playing a leading role in educational funding. Although organisations would present their contributions as acts of social responsibility, they may be donating to attract top talent. But if schools become the next talent pipeline, what effects could competition have on educational budgets – and traditional recruitment?

Doncaster College to meet the challenges of the skills gap

This week (October 9th), the National Rail College opened in Doncaster. The college has been established to provide high quality recruits for large infrastructure projects, like HS2.

The college will have an intake of around 1,000 new students each year. Those studying at the college will be able to specialise in fields such as engineering and project management.

It is hoped that the success of the National Rail College will close the skills gap in the labour market. If the outcomes are positive, it may lead to other specialist training institutions opening in the future.

Richard Threlfall, of KPMG, told BBC News that Britain has “a huge pipeline of infrastructure projects in the next twenty years – £500 Billion of projects.” However the country would fall short of its objectives if it did not have access to the necessary skills, he said.

Talent pipelines and the private funding of education

The challenge of meeting the requirements of a changing workplace has occupied the minds of recruiters for quite some time. In recent weeks, we have seen high profile examples of the private sector moving to address skills gaps in the future labour market. We have seen pressure groups call for more private investment in training young professionals. We have even blogged about a disastrous public relations effort by a weapons manufacturer.

The HS2 College is by no means the first of such projects that may be seen as a talent pipeline for industry. British Aerospace has a similar project operating in Blackpool, and the creator of the Tomb Raider gaming franchise, Ian Livingstone, has established two STEM schools, in London and Bournemouth.

If the schemes raise standards, and show contributing businesses gaining top talent from their investments, the practice could reshape education. Introducing a competitive, market element to the funding of schools may prove an effective solution to the skills gap.

Website sets up talent pipeline for graduate recruitment

Meanwhile, another talent pipeline into academia is being opened up, this time by a tech entrepreneur from Purdue University in Indiana.

Nicholas Bachewicz has launched the web-based recruitment software platform, InternX, as a service allowing recruiters to contact students with the right skills, directly. Hosted as part of a localised business and educational hub called Anvil, InternX aims to improve the progression from social media outreach, to face-to-face meeting.

Mr Bachewicz explained: “Campus career fairs… host thousands of students, and recruiters hope a student with ideal qualifications happens across their booth. Through InternX, recruiters can find candidates, and invite them to visit the company at the career fair, making the process more efficient for all parties.” Uniquely, businesses will pay $1 to access a prospect’s contact details; money which is then paid directly to the student.

It is not the first time that eBoss has noticed the monetisation of the humble CV. Several months ago, we discovered a site that let visitors ”buy” goods from their webstore in return for an uploaded resume. As a way to supplement student incomes, InternX may have discovered a successful formula.

Professional Services to see significant growth, says Hays Australia

Recruiting experts Hays have identified the key growth professions in their most recent report on the industry.

Reflecting the digital transformation of the workplace, the Hays Quarterly Report for October to December finds business services to be among the professions most likely to experience growing demand.

Hays suggests the interest for talent within the field reflects the streamlining of working environments and the digital transformation. As businesses evolve to more agile, efficient models, key individuals who bring value to an organisation and their clients will be all the more sought after.

Large infrastructure projects and digital readiness initiatives were also influential, with Big data and security experts, Civil designers and project architects all featuring prominently among the list of sought after professions.