Corporate report

Behind the breakthroughs: the hidden innovation workforce

Most innovators are not recognised in job titles but drive real change across UK businesses. A new framework shines a light on who’s behind these breakthroughs.

From:
Innovate UK
Published:

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Details

Innovation is vital to the UK economy, yet much of the workforce driving it goes unrecognised. Innovation spans everyday roles across businesses, not just formal research and development, even as overall activity has declined.

This study shows that 86% of innovation roles are ‘implicit’ and introduces a seven-category framework to define this wider workforce, from leadership and strategy to product development, design and commercialisation.

The report highlights the key enablers of innovation and calls for better role visibility, stronger skills pipelines and improved support for small and medium-sized enterprises.

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