Publication - Research and analysis
Transferable skills in land-based and aquaculture sectors: review
This research report provides an overview of research undertaken to identify transferable skills in Scotland’s land-based and aquaculture sectors.
Appendix 1: Annotated bibliography of key references
| Reference | Type of document | Focus | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sussex Chamber of Commerce (2023). Future skills Sussex local improvement plan: Land-based deep dive evidence base report. Available at: Future Skills Sussex - Land-based (Accessed 27 January 2025) | Non-government actor report | Identifying the skills needed to grow the land-based sector | - Leadership, business management, recruitment and IT skills are vital to growing the sector - A willingness to learn, attitude, aptitude and are also important - Employers are willing to recruit less skilled people if they have the right transferable skills - Employers face barriers in training their employees, including a lack of funding and time |
| Atterton et al. (2023). Climate change, the land-based labour market and rural land use in Scotland. Available at: Climate change, the land-based labour market and rural land use in Scotland | ClimateXChange (Accessed 27 January 2025) | Non-government actor report | Evaluating how Scotland’s land-based labour market may be impacted by the just transition | - Scotland’s labour market has experienced many changes in the past few decades, partly due to COVID-19 and the EU exit - It is challenging to define the land-based sector, and commonly cited employment numbers are not directly comparable - The just transition creates the greatest potential for job creation in afforestation followed by non-livestock agriculture. Livestock agriculture is at greatest risk of job losses from the just transition |
| Nye et al. (2022). Labour and skills in the horticulture and agriculture sectors in England. Available at: (PDF) Labour and skills in the horticulture and agriculture sectors in England, 2023: Summary report (Accessed 27 January 2025) | Academic report to inform policy | Determining the current labour and skills situation in the agricultural and horticultural workforce in England | - Availability of labour and access to staff with the right skills are important problems for the sector - Health and safety, environmental management, IT skills, and literacy skills are missing in the workforce - Almost two thirds of employers state their staff are missing ‘soft skills’ like teamwork and communication - Future training should consider skills that will be required in the future, including advanced digital and IT skills, data use and management, skills related to environmental management, and machinery maintenance |
| van Doorn, L. and van Vliet, O. (2024). Labour market risks, skill transferability and public opinion on the green transition. TransEuroWorks. Available at: Trans-Euro works: New Working Paper (Accessed 27 January 2025) | Working paper | Assessing the labour market risks of the green transition and identifying how these may impact public attitudes to climate policy | - Skill transferability is positively related to the perceived relevance of skills and negatively related to subjective labour market risk - Individuals with transferable skills are more likely to support green policies |
| Nagele, C. and Stadler, B. ‘Competence and the need for transferable skills’, in Mulder, M. (ed.) Competence-based Vocational and Professional Education. New York: Springer International, pp.739–753 | Book chapter | Outlining the importance of transferable skills in professional and vocational education | - Transferable skills are highly valued by employers and allow people to work across multiple contexts - Skill transfer may be easiest between similar occupations but can be hampered by various workplace or individual factors - Several skills are consistently found in descriptions of transferable skills, including fundamental, people, conceptualising, business and community skills |
| Snell et al. (2016). Cross-occupational skill transferability: challenges and opportunities in a changing economy. Available at: Cross-occupational skill transferability: challenges and opportunities in a changing economy (Accessed 27 January 2025) | Australian Government report | Highlighting the role of transferable skills in a rapidly changing economy | - The transferability of skills depends on a worker’s ability to recognise their skills as transferable - Transferable skills are increasingly valuable in a rapidly changing economy - Generic technical and non-technical skills are often more transferable - Occupational clusters can help to facilitate skill transfer and can help to align training packages |
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Email: socialresearch@gov.scot