Labour market information is an important aspect of career planning because it tells you:
· which jobs are in demand now, and which are likely to be in demand in the future
· the level of demand for workers in different industries and sectors
· the sorts of skills and qualifications that employers are looking for
· the differences in demand for workers depending on where you live
· the levels of earnings for different kinds of work
· about changes in the working population, for example, the age range of the work force
· about changes in patterns of working: full time, part time, short term contracts.
A word of warning! LMI researchers use the information they collect to forecast future trends in the job market. However, these trends can, and do, change. A lot of LMI depends on the state of the national, and global, economy and this can change very quickly – just think what the current 'credit crunch' could be doing to the job market world wide!
So, although you should consider LMI when choosing or planning your career, we wouldn’t recommend basing your choice on this information alone!
A lot of labour market information comes from statistical surveys done by economists. They use the results to write LMI reports and forecasts, often for people in industry or Government. Not good news for the rest of us, as few of us want to wade through masses of statistics or government reports!
So, we’ve used a wide range of LMI sources to include relevant job market information in our job profiles and career area information – see Career Zone. However, if you are looking for more detailed information there are a variety of useful sources of LMI -Scottish and UK-wide (see below).
Useful sources of LMI
· Futureskills Scotland at www.futureskillsscotland.org.uk (for LMI reports on specific topics, industries and geographical areas)
· Alliance of Sector Skills Councils at www.sscalliance.org/home/home.asp (see ‘sectors’ and then the Sector Skills Councils individual websites for LMI)
· Prospects at www.prospects.ac.uk (graduate careers website - for information on graduate destinations – What do graduates do? 2008 - covers 32 subjects of study)
· Careers Scotland at www.careers-scotland.org.uk (for LMI on key industries and geographical areas)
· Scottish Government (Statistics) at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market (for economic profiles of Scotland)
· Lifelong Learning UK at www.lluk.org/3497.htm (for projected employers’ skills needs reports for Scotland)
· ONS – National Statistics Online at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ (for official UK Government statistics)
· NOMIS (National Office of Market Statistics) at www.nomisweb.co.uk/ (for official UK Government labour market statistics – labour market profiles by geographical area)