Labour Are Changing the World of Work: What Do L&D Professionals Need To Know?

As the new Labour government settle in, a wave of employment law changes have been announced that will impact organisations of all sizes.

With so many changes coming at short notice, we take a look at how they will affect L&D workforce planning, budget allocation and programme design. Ahead of the new Employment Rights Bill, here are three major takeaways every L&D professional needs to know.

1) Increased workforce longevity

With the introduction of a flat national minimum wage and enhanced workers’ rights, the average organisation’s workforce is going to need to take a very different approach workforce planning in the coming years. If all Labour’s proposals are implemented, everyone who works for your organisation, freelancers included, will be entitled to the same rights as your permanent employees from day one. Meaning potentially higher costs to comply with these new requirements, such as sick pay and holiday pay for all workers, regardless of status.

So what does this mean for L&D teams? Firstly, you’ll need to invest time communicating these changes to your employees, and invest in high-quality training programmes that will ensure your staff continue to perform to their full potential year on year, giving you and them the best possible return from your L&D investment.

Want to learn how to design sticky learning programmes that deliver lasting results and long-term transformation? Download our free Programme Design Toolkit here. 

2) No more unpaid internships

Time to invest in your graduate programmes. Under Labour’s proposals, unpaid workplace internships will be banned other than for educational purposes. Ensuring young people receive a fair wage for their work and are not exploited for free labour.

This is a positive change. But organisations who have seen interns as little more than temporary office juniors need to pivot fast to a new approach. By investing in a well-run paid internship programme, you can create a comprehensive early talent pipeline, taking your cohort from intern to graduate to early career professional, and giving them a true taste of what it’s like to work for your organisation.

Properly investing into your internship programme not only boosts your conversion and retention rates into your graduate scheme pipeline (the median for which is 57.7% according to upcoming ECO data), but will also ensure that your new hires are trained up with the skills they need to succeed in their roles at your organisation. And if you make their learning really stick, the lessons will stay with them long after graduation and into the future leadership roles your organisation needs.

Find out how to create powerful, impactful internship programmes with our Internships Toolkit – a free resource that will guide you through everything you need to know to help your new interns thrive as they move into their new role, new organisation and new world of work.

3) Squeezed budgets

With the coming changes, come updates to HR policies, increased training needs and potentially higher spend on employee rights and benefits. Something has to give. And with L&D budgets already feeling the squeeze, the quality of your L&D and Early Careers programmes could suffer.

So how can L&D teams do more with less budget? Ready-to-deploy solutions provide an affordable alternative to bespoke programmes designed from scratch, and tailored packages can help ensure your 2025 intake are still grounded in the unique context and needs of your organisation.

Introducing TSX: A ready to deploy, scalable and affordable solution that provides an end-to-end learning experience for your Early Careers cohorts.

Made for graduates, interns and apprentices, and drawing on 17 years’ experience in bespoke Early Careers programme design, TSX is a first-of-its-kind system specifically designed for ease of adaptation, speed of adoption, and quality of experience. Read more here.

Whatever changes are coming in the L&D world, we’re here to help. Sign up to receive our updates to ensure you don’t miss a thing, and, if you need help setting up your graduate programmes, creating learning and development plans that stick, or establishing bespoke leadership training, get in touch with our experts today. We’d be happy to help you get started.