News

Northern Ireland businesses are experiencing the knock-on effect of ongoing skills shortages and recruitment challenges according to The Open University’s Business Barometer 2022 report, published in partnership today (Wednesday 29^th June) with the British Chambers of Commerce.

Data from The Open University and British Chambers of Commerce shows 83% of respondents in NI agree their organisation is currently facing skills shortages.

The Open University has surveyed 4,300 young adults from across all four nations of the UK to find out what societal challenges concern them most. Those surveyed consider sustainability and the environment (64%), inequality of opportunity (58%) and health and wellbeing (56%) as the societal challenges that concern them most across the UK.

An Open University research project which is making historical army barracks’ buildings across the island of Ireland more accessible to people in the North and South has received funding.

The North-South Research Programme in Ireland has awarded The Open University (OU) and University College Dublin (UCD) €200k to deliver a project mapping, inventorying, and recording of the Army Barracks of Ireland, 1690-1921.

Two young entrepreneurs from two of the fastest growing sectors in Northern Ireland are helping BBC TV and Radio 1 presenter Gemma Cairney take the helm of a ‘business’ this week as part of The Open University’s challenge to inspire young people to ‘Unlock Your Inner Boss’.

Ronan Keating has received an honorary degree from The Open University in recognition of his philanthropic contributions to charities over the past 25 years, particularly to improve cancer care.

The Dublin-born musician, songwriter and presenter of BBC ONE’s The One Show, stepped up to receive the accolade for his charitable work following the loss of his mother to breast cancer in 1998.

The Open University (OU) has launched a raft of measures aimed at helping students and Ukrainians fleeing the war and arriving in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

These include financial support and assistance for existing OU students, a funding lifeline to potential students from Ukraine now living in the UK, as well as free online learning and partnerships with wider support networks.

The Open University in Northern Ireland has welcomed the Department for the Economy’s Skills for a 10x Economy Strategy but says a funding model that works for part-time higher education ‘is essential’.

The Open University, Northern Ireland’s leading provider of flexible, online higher education, has welcomed the Department for the Economy’s Skills for a 10x Economy Strategy published at the end of March.

The Open University’s new report into public sector skills, Embracing Flexibility: How can Learning & Development service new hybrid working and learning models in the public sector? highlights a desire for more flexibility and learning and development opportunities

One of the largest recent UK wide public sector employee surveys, published in partnership with Public Sector Executive, revealed 8 in 10 public sector employees in Northern Ireland cite learning and development as key to job satisfaction.