The CSconnected Director, Chris Meadows, contributed to the recent IOP-commissioned report: "PHYSICS IN DEMAND: The labour market for physics skills in the UK and Ireland".

The report reveals that as we enter a new economic era post-Covid and post-Brexit, recovery and growth in the UK and Ireland economies will be severely limited without greater investment in the development of physics skills.

Chris highlighted the CSconnected cluster ongoing work to improve the talent pool and the South Wales region investment in education and outreach programmes to widen potential recruitment.

The report reveals that physics skills already support nearly 2m jobs across the UK and Ireland, and employer demand is strong and growing, yet the IOP says that without concerted action the existing shortfall in physics skills is only set to worsen and will limit the extent to which the economies can take advantage of new economic and technological developments.

It will also limit the role these countries can play in the transition to a net-zero world and new green economies.

Physics skills can apply far beyond obvious physics roles and Chris added that while physics skills are important for design, process and product engineering, they are also essential for sales and customer service employees - they need to be able to work with customers and speak the same physics language.

The report concludes that because of its crucial role in driving innovation, “strengthening the provision of physics is central to the ambitions to improve economic growth, prosperity and living standards”.

Read the full announcement on the IOP website: IOP report: invest in physics skills now to support economic recovery and growth | Institute of Physics

To download the report and the IOP summary report, see the IOP Workforce Skills Project homepage.

About CSconnected

CSconnected is the collective brand for a growing number of advanced semiconductor related activities in Wales, home to a unique community of academic institutions, prototyping facilities and global, high-volume manufacturing capabilities that collaborate across a range of research and innovation programs. CSconnected is uniquely positioned to develop a global advantage in a sovereign, key enabling technology which will allow Wales and the UK to increase trade globally in critical sectors such as 5G communications, autonomous and electric vehicles, advanced medical devices, and consumer electronics of the future.

In 2020, CSconnected received government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). The 55-month CSconnected SIPF project has a total value of £43million, supported by £25million of UKRI funds. It builds on Wales's regional strengths and integrates research excellence with a unique regional supply chain in compound semiconductor manufacturing.