Putting skills to work: learning and employment at the start of the century

Skills are central to employment, yet they are often poorly understood in theory and underdeveloped in practice. The articles in this issue of HRMJ were originally presented at an ESRC‐funded seminar in Manchester in 2001 and show how working practices, control systems and regulation can have an impact on skills. This article introduces the special issue by considering the interrelationship between the individual expertise, job design and discretion that constitute skill. Drawing on data from the 2001 Skills Survery, it notes that developments in these areas are not necessarily compatible with one another, and reviews the implications for policymakers and practitioners.