People and skills

Equipped, able and ready to work - Telford boasts a 350,000-strong skilled workforce within a 30-minute radius of the town, with more people employed in manufacturing than anywhere else in the West Midlands. 

The town has a long history of innovation and industry, and our local workforce is well-educated, highly skilled and highly motivated. With a wide range of training and education providers, businesses in Telford have access to a steady supply of skilled workers allowing them to grow and expand. In areas where recruitment is challenging, we offer a dedicated support offer working to provide businesses with bespoke solutions. 

We also focus on the next generation’s skills and talent with an investment of over £200 million from the UK Government that has seen the number of STEM-enrolled students rise significantly. With a commitment to prepare our young people for entry into the labour market, we forge links between schools and businesses and have a programme of school/business engagement activities. 

The pathway to secondary education is also strong and Telford employers can draw on a large pool of graduates from the area’s nine universities. The University of Wolverhampton now hosts a state-of-the-art Innovation Campus in the heart of Telford, which includes the Centre of Excellence in Health and Social Care and nearby Harper Adams University is a world leader in the agriculture, agri-tech, land management and sustainability sectors.