Employability and Enterprise: Evidence from the North East

This paper considers "employability" andthe skills and competencies now needed to compete in the new labor market. Itis argued that a set of "enterprising skills" should be adopted as thenew employability skills set in the U.K. A previous definition offered by A.A. Gibb to provide insights into this newemployability skills set is presented. Enterprising skills provide diverseindividuals with opportunities in the labor market, and are also a firm-levelphenomenon. Three research projects that had been conducted in the North Eastof Great Britain were used for this investigation. Findings indicate that the enterprising skills set has fivecomponents:being innovative, acting autonomously, taking risks, beingproactive, and competing intensively. An employability policy outline is alsooffered that comprises basic skills, enterprising skills, andknowledge/sector-specific skills.(TNM)