Labour Market Intelligence

Further Education colleges play a vital role in developing the knowledge and skills of young people and adults, helping them to become socially and economically active individuals. Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) can play an important role in helping college leaders determine the extent to which the college is equipping individuals to meet the needs of the labour market they serve.

Using LMI to develop the curriculum can empower and help The Skills For Industry project, through its partners to position itself as a trusted and expert provider of skills. If the Project is to continue to fulfil a vital skills development role, it needs to ensure that the efforts are relevant to the needs of the labour market. The partner Colleges need to be able to demonstrate an awareness of the immediate and future trends in the demand for skills in order for the project to evolve its supply of services.

The improved alignment of education and training provision with the labour market can help to avoid the risk of an oversupply of skills that has the potential to create unemployment and an underutilisation of skills. In contrast, an excess demand for specific skills, which is not met by the supply, will create vacancies that are hard to fill due to a skills shortage. An understanding of the future demand trends will assist in the planning of the supply of skills for the benefit of employers, individuals and ultimately the economic prosperity of the surrounding area of South and West Wales and local region.

The lead partner, Gower College Swansea has undertaken an extensive research project in which robust LMI data has been gathered to identify the skills demands of the region and to ensure that the provision offered by the College and its partners meets the needs of the labour market. Along with using the Emsi Labour Market Analytics tool, the following sources were used to develop the LMI reports:

• Nomis Labour Market Profile – Swansea
• Business Wales: Skills Gateway – Labour Market Intelligence
• Regional Employment & Skills Plan, South West & Mid Wales (2018) – Regional Learning and Skills Partnership
• Regional Employment & Skills Plan, South West & Mid Wales (2017) – Regional Learning and Skills Partnership
• Life Science Skills for Life – Regional Learning Partnership
• Trade and Invest Wales – Key Industries
• The Future of Work in Wales – Public Policy Institute for Wales
• The Future of Jobs Report 2018 – World Economic Forum
• Careers Wales – Spotlight on South West and Mid Wales
• The Age of Automation – RSA Action Research Centre
• A Skillful Wales – FSB Wales
• The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model
• Welsh Government Sectors Delivery Plan
• The Health and Social Care Sector – UKCES
• Using the Welsh Language: The Business Case – Welsh Language Commissioner
• Hairy, Beauty and Complementary Therapy – Skills Foresight Report 2017