Opinion piece by Joan Concannon, Chief Reputation and Stakeholder Relations Officer.
The Yorkshire Post published this opinion piece on 30 September 2026.
You can read the opinion piece in the Yorkshire Post online (behind a paywall) or read a transcript below.
Read our report
, 6,393kb)As we navigate an era defined by rapid technological transformation and profound macroeconomic shifts, our region stands at a historic crossroads. The landmark devolution of powers across West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, York & North Yorkshire, and Hull & East Yorkshire offers an unprecedented, generational opportunity to align higher education, research, and skills deployment with long-term regional economic prosperity. But to realise this ambitious vision, we must confront a fundamental truth: sustainable economic growth is inextricably linked to the talent we nurture, attract, and retain across Yorkshire and the Humber.
A new report by the University of York in partnership with QS and Public First provides both the empirical foundation and the strategic clarity required to navigate these changing times.
Drawing upon QS's global labour market platform tracking over 750 million data points, our first report looking at the economic growth opportunities of the national industrial strategy revealed that AI augmentation could add £490 billion to UK GDP by 2030. Crucially, 75% of roles across the Industrial Strategy’s eight growth sectors (IS-8) will be augmented rather than automated, and 80% of critical roles within these priority areas require degree- and postgraduate-level qualifications (Level 6+).
Our new report assessing demand and supply side conditions to deliver economic growth for Yorkshire and Humber presents an extraordinary £38 billion GVA potential uplift across Yorkshire and the Humber, where 83% of growth roles stand to gain significantly from AI augmentation. With the UK ranking 3rd globally in AI, digital, and green readiness, regional outcomes will depend heavily on our response: job growth by 2030 ranges from 126,000 new roles under a high-automation scenario to 379,000 under AI augmentation - up to half of which will require degree-level qualifications.
However, these promising trajectories will remain unrealised unless we confront acute structural handbrakes. Our analysis highlights an annual deficit of over 2,000 engineering graduates in the region, alongside severe shortages across 630 'transectoral' occupations - such as AI Research Scientists and Digital Transformation Leads - that underpin multiple high-growth industries. Compounding this, the supply pipeline itself is shrinking: across England, university intake over the last five years has dropped by 14% in engineering and 10% in natural sciences, creating an acute supply-demand imbalance just as regional industry needs accelerate.
Simultaneously, 173,000 regional workers (7% of the workforce) face direct automation risks.
Compounding these workforce dynamics are pressing demographic realities. We face an ageing regional population where retired citizens increasingly outnumber economically active workers.
At the same time, national policy constraints that compress international student recruitment risk undermining the UK's global talent retention. Recognising international students as strategic economic assets is vital for sustaining regional competitiveness and growth. As highlighted in recent analysis on teaching costs in England, universities face severe real-terms fee erosion. To deliver on our shared growth ambitions, mayoral devolution and regional partnership must be matched by supportive national policies that preserve higher education capacity as civic and economic engines.
These regional imperatives directly mirror expanding national discussions regarding workforce transition in the AI era. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on 22 September 2026, Prime Minister Andy Burnham stressed that fundamental decisions on AI technology must be guided by elected governments to safeguard working people and ensure technological progress serves as an engine of opportunity. Commentators such as William Hague have similarly emphasised that education must fundamentally adapt: preparing individuals for AI-adopting employers while ensuring human minds remain capable of independent critical thought, underpinned by deep investment in adult lifelong learning.
Rather than waiting passively for these macro shifts to unfold, the University of York is actively stepping forward as an agile activator. We have already instituted a series of decisive, proactive measures across our institution:
In partnership with QS, we have already completed the first phase of an institutional curriculum audit to align degree pathways with regional labour market demands. Simultaneously, we are embedding baseline AI training and AI literacy alongside core human capabilities - critical thinking, ethical leadership, and communication - across all academic disciplines and paths. To enable lifelong learning, the York Online School is expanding flexible, stackable micro-credentials for workforce reskilling, while our strategic alliance with Teesside University and the BioIndustrial Cluster North secures a resilient skills pipeline for the bioeconomy.
Achieving sustainable pan-regional growth requires us to dismantle traditional institutional silos. Public rhetoric too often pits different parts of the education system against one another - framing choices as 'the hard hat versus the graduation cap'. Our data clearly demonstrates the need for a unified skills compact where Further Education (FE), Higher Education (HE), combined authorities, and industry work in harmony to deliver a whole system approach to ensure that we have a comprehensive and equitable skills strategy that draws on all of the talents across our region.
We invite Mayoral leads, combined authority teams, FE colleges, and regional business leaders to join us in establishing an integrated Triple Helix Skills & Talent Taskforce. By aligning our industrial, educational, and talent retention strategies, we can build a resilient graduate pipeline, advocate for a national bioeconomy strategy, and ensure that regional devolution delivers lasting economic prosperity in every postcode.