She told delegates:
“I am very excited about this brief and I am committed to delivering a strong employability and skills agenda. The Cross-Welsh Government work on employability is particularly exciting as we maximise opportunities to work together in order to make a real difference to people’s lives.
“The Welsh Government clearly has a key role in supporting the employability of people across Wales and we should be proud of the fact that we have seen significant improvements in the employment rate in Wales over recent years. But we still have work to do to support those who are economically inactive, and those in insecure employment.
“Employability is not just about jobs and skills. It is about getting every aspect of Government policy – education, health, housing and communities – working together to support people into sustainable jobs.
“In order to support long-term prosperity, we need to do things differently and, to do different things. Employability and Skills has been identified as one of our key priorities to help us build the highly skilled and productive workforce of the future.
“I am determined to ensure we focus on building the skills employers need to flourish, skills people need to gain meaningful employment to support themselves and skills that will equip people to meet the challenges of the future.”
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