To plan your future workforce needs, you need information on the labour market in your region. This section sets out the most up-to-date information on the labour market in the East of England. It looks at four topics:
The workforce in the East of England has a slightly lower level of qualification than the national average. Of the proportion of the economically active (those people who are in work or are actively looking for work), only 25% are qualified to NVQ level 4 (degree level) and above, while 29% of the population of Great Britain are.
The East of England also has more people who are qualified to low levels or not qualified at all. 18% of the population of the East of England are qualified to NVQ level 2, compared to 15% across Great Britain.
Qualifications |
|
|
(% Economically Active of Working Age) | GB | East of England |
NVQ4 and above | 29 | 25 |
NVQ3 | 15 | 15 |
Trade Apprenticeships | 7 | 6 |
NVQ2 | 15 | 18 |
NVQ1 | 15 | 16 |
No Qualifications | 11 | 12 |
Source: Local Area Labour Force Survey
For your business, this suggests that it may be relatively difficult to recruit those in the higher job categories than in the lower job categories. Instead, you may want to think about the way you can upgrade the qualifications of your existing staff – through retraining or on the job training – improving their qualifications rather than recruiting new staff with higher qualifications.
The three biggest sectors for employment in the East of England are:
Public administration, education and health (26.3%),
Distribution (including wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and hotels and restaurants) 19.2%, and
Banking and finance (17.1%).
(Date: June 2004, Source: Labour Force Survey).
This pattern of employment broadly matches the national average. However, there are three major differences between the pattern in the East and the pattern in Great Britain as a whole:
Less people employed in public administration, education and health. Only 26% as opposed to 28% nationally.
More people employed in banking and finance. 17% as opposed to 16% nationally.
More people employed in construction. 9% as opposed to 8% nationally.
(Date: June 2004, Source: Labour Force Survey).
The type of job is also important for recruiters. In June 2004, the Labour Force Survey showed the highest percentage of people employed in the East of England as:
Managers and Senior Officials (14.9%),
Associate Professionals (13.9%),
Administrative and Secretarial (12.6%) and
Professional Occupations (12.4%).
(Date: June 2004, Source: Labour Force Survey).
As with industries, the occupational structure of the East of England Government Office Region differs a little from the national average. The Labour Force Survey shows a few key differences:
The East of England is overrepresented in Managers and Senior Officials. Around 307,000 people are employed in this type of job, comprising over 16% of the employed population compared to just under 15% nationally.
The East of England is underrepresented in Process Plant and Machine Operatives and Sales and Customer Service Occupations. There are 189,000 people employed in process plant and machine operative jobs, 6.9% of the employed population against 7.4% nationally. There are 195,000 people employed in Sales and Customer Service occupations, 7.1% of the employed population against 7.9% nationally.
(Date: June 2004, Source: Labour Force Survey).
Information about your very local area can be obtained from the Office of National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics
The East of England observatory has a wide range of economic and social statistics about the region.
There are also county-by-county observatory sites. For example: -
http://www.suffolkobservatory.info
A wider range of information is obtainable from NOMIS [www.nomisweb.co.uk], although it is a more complicated source and can be difficult to use. The easiest and most useful function is “Labour market profile” – this gives you up to date background statistics on your local authority, parliamentary constituency or even your ward, the most local level.