“I don’t think things are going to go back to the way they were before.”

That is the view of Darren Jones, the Labour MP for Bristol North West and the chairman of the parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee who visited Swindon on Friday.

Mr Jones sees the Covid-19 pandemic as marking a significant shift in the way we work.

He was in the town talking to social enterprises and staff and students at the Institute of Technology as the Swindon new College North Star campus as part of an inquiry the committee has launched into the labour market.

He said: “We’re looking at the labour market, whether we have the right people, in the right places with the right skills to do the jobs we need doing.

“I think the answer is probably no – but we’d like to hear from as many people as possible.”

Mr Jones visited the IoT and also the social enterprises Create and Recycle.

He said: “It was interesting to see the work at the IoT, the cyber work, the  work on film editing and production, and e-sports and game designing which is a big area for the UK, as well as the more traditional areas of electrical engineering. They’re doing interesting work in cyber security testing, and aerospace work.

“Create and Recycle are doing great work in upskilling and reskilling people in a different sort of environment, giving them skills which they can take forward to other area. People can learn to fix up bikes at Recycle, and then go on to other areas of technical skills.

“It also looks great for those who have children, if you’re having to get them a bigger bike every few years

Mr Jones said there was still work to be done in Swindon to get the most out of its work force.

He said: “The research suggests it’s not quite getting the best in terms of skills and employment – but that’s true of many places, including places like Manchester.

"We need places like the IoT to be talking a lot  to employers and making sure the skills they need are being produced here, and giving them confidence to invest here, though there does seem to be a fair bit of investment.”

One area Mr Jones though could be improved was digital connectivity.

He said: “It was interesting the IoT had to pay to upgrade its connectivity to allow it to run some of its cyber security courses.

“If a company has its headquarters ion London or Bristol, or Tokyo even, workers here in Swindon need to know they’ll be able to connect to it if they’re working from home, or in shared spaces like the Workshed which seems to be a great success.”

He added: “It’s an interesting question whether we need to concentrate more on inter-city travel or virtual communications. Do people want to be able to work from home more now?

“There needs to be a balance between increasing digital connectivity and physical infrastructure, and we mustn’t forget the jobs that can’t be done at home: you can’t build cars or aeroplanes or care for people from your back bedroom, so we need to remember the people who have to travel to work as well, but I don’t think things are going to go back to the way they were before.“

Mr Jones said he and his committee would be glad to receive comments on how well Swindon or the UK’s workforce was suited to the needs of business from anyone.

Submissions can be made via:https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6729/postpandemic-economic-growth-uk-labour-markets/