Skills & Inequality in Oxford – Business Survey

As part of the Skills and Inequality Study, we asked Oxford businesses about their workforce, recruitment and skills needs. We wanted to understand the challenges employers face in attracting, recruiting and retaining staff, identify current and emerging skills gaps, and explore what support could help businesses develop their workforce. 

154 businesses responded to our Skills and Inequality Study survey. These businesses told us that recruitment, retention and skills challenges are affecting organisations across Oxford, with concerns around the cost of living, transport, skills shortages and workforce development. 

Key themes included: 

• Oxford's high housing costs and wider cost of living pressures make it difficult to attract and retain staff. 

• Transport and commuting challenges are affecting recruitment and retention, particularly for workers travelling into the city. 

• Employers are experiencing skills shortages, particularly in leadership and management, technical and specialist roles, digital skills and skilled trades. 

• Businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain experienced and skilled workers, with strong competition for talent from other employers and neighbouring areas. 

• Rising operating costs, high turnover, and the cost and time involved in training staff can make it difficult for businesses to invest in workforce development. 

• A need for stronger essential workplace skills, including time management,  

• Employers highlighted a need for stronger essential workplace skills, including time management, leadership, planning, adaptability and problem-solving, as well as improved workplace readiness. 

• Employers expressed a need for more support to keep pace with digital change, particularly around AI, data skills, cybersecurity and wider digital capability. 

• Employers would welcome more affordable and practical support for workforce development, including subsidised training, apprenticeships and closer links with education and training providers. 

The feedback from businesses has been used to develop a draft skills strategy, known as the Vision for Skills. The Vision for Skills seeks to address skills shortages for employers and barriers to employment, education and training for residents, and will be submitted to the council for approval in September 2026. There are two key recommendations in the draft skills strategy. The first is to develop a skills compact that will bring together funding, employers, training providers, public bodies, and communities around shared goals. The second is to establish an Economy and Skills Unit for Oxford that will act as the local coordination layer for skills delivery, aligning funding, shaping provision, and offering labour market intelligence.