Whitepapers and reports

The Open University (OU) is marking National Apprenticeship Week with new insights on how employers value apprenticeships and the benefits they offer in diversifying the workforce.

With research suggesting an organisation’s level of psychological know-how can improve its response to disruption, this whitepaper will explore how business and HR leaders can draw upon psychological resources as part of their crisis management strategy.

Skills shortages revealed to be a long term strategic challenge for employers.

According to The Open University’s annual business report published in partnership with the Institute of Directors, UK employers are facing a skills shortage when it comes to hiring specialist, entry level talent.   

There has been plenty written about the ‘next normal’ and the ‘new world of work’ in a post-pandemic world. The overnight shift in the nature and places of work has turned transformation debates into reality – and none more so than in the field of management.

Social justice, wellbeing and authenticity. These are some of the key themes in The Open University’s (OU) Trends in Learning 2021 report. Launching at the CIPD’s Festival of Work conference, the annual report identifies and explores emerging trends in the learning and education sectors. 

The embrace of technology by small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) across the UK has rapidly accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic first began – accelerating innovation in the process. However, we also know that of those businesses that adopt technology, most are unsuccessful.

The Open University, in association with The 5% Club, commissioned a survey of over 600 employers in England about their plans for apprenticeships in the coming months. The polling was conducted in January 2021 amongst small and large businesses from across the private, public and third sector.

The Open University is today calling for significant reform in adult social work and social care to aid the sectors’ recovery from COVID-19. 

Organisations need to start thinking about learning differently. They need to think of it as a benefit, something that benefits them, benefits individuals and teams, and also benefits society as a whole. That is the central theme of a new whitepaper, Closing the opportunity gap: The economic drivers for learning as a benefit, produced by The Open University and Uber, in association with TrainingZone.

The latest OpenLearn annual report has been published. It shows that interest in the free learning site has soared to unprecedented levels, with global visitors surpassing the 80 million mark since its launch in 2006. OpenLearn, which is an integral part of The Open University (OU), offers bite-sized learning across a broad range of topics. Many OpenLearn visitors make the transition from informal to formal learning, inspired and emboldened by their experiences on the platform.