A report on UK initiatives to transfer skills from academia to industry describes the process as "fragmented, disjointed and not sufficiently robust". The report to the Science Council, called The Organization of Science Education, Skills and Knowledge in the UK, describes 30 initiatives over the past 15 years that used various skills councils to identify industry's needs and then find ways of encouraging universities to meet them. With a few exceptions, those efforts were fairly dismal, with several surveyed participants unable to cite examples that made a significant impact on performance or profitability.
The report indirectly points to the responsibilities of universities, industry and young scientists. Although research-oriented universities aren't, and shouldn't be, a kind of technical school to supply industry with workers, they do have a role to play. Department heads and graduate advisers should be aware of job opportunities in sectors beyond academia. Holding career days, lining up internships and launching seminar series in industry skills could help academia alleviate industry's woes.
Industry, which often bemoans the lack of qualified candidates, could do more too. Companies could visit various departments and tell faculty members and students alike what would constitute their ideal candidate. They could sponsor more internships and actively promote them. They could initiate research collaborations and involve graduate students in them. And they could offer industrial postdocs as a way to train up potential employees.
Young scientists in training aren't off the hook, either. They could take more control of their careers by exploring different functions in industry. Taking short courses, doing internships at companies, collaborating with industrial researchers and attending seminars on off-the-bench skills could all provide experience that would be applicable to any sector and put them in contention for industrial jobs.
Whether, when or how the UK government sketches out the road to reform, it's safe to say that universities, students and companies can embark on it sooner and get to the destination faster.