The Task Force, on the Knowledge Economy (a working group of the European Round Table of Industrialists, chaired by Sir Peter Bonfield) sent a statement to the Stockholm European Council meeting in March 2001: 'Competitive advantage in the knowledge economy no longer relates purely to a product or service. It is much more dependent on the continuous acquisition of new skills by people and companies and being ahead of the competition in exploiting critical knowledge.' If you think about past and present colleagues then you may well be able to identify people who are eminently employable and make a positive difference to their team, project, organization or profession. In contrast, many of us can think of other people whom, if given the option, we would never employ and it remains a mystery how they remain in employment. One word that perhaps sums up the differences between these two groups of people is 'employability' and this has been defined in Perspectives 3 (available on www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre) as 'a set of achievements - skills, understandings and personal attributes - that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and economy.' This article explores the concept of employability and identifies current developments in universities and colleges that will have an impact on information and knowledge workers.
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