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By Wendy Butterworth - Careers & Welfare Manager

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What affects the labour market?

There are many situations which can influence the labour market, and these can influence how that market is expected to grow or decline.

You’ll hear lots in the news about issues that could affect the labour market, but there are other things, which you might not think of. Here are some examples to get you started:

Economic regeneration programmes

  • This is where money is invested into a scheme to help create jobs. This could be a local, regional or national programme. Think about the construction work going on around Manchester. How is that creating jobs?

Education and training initiatives 

  • Examples of recent initiatives are the government’s plan to have 3 million apprentices by 2020. What affect does this have on the job market?

Minimum wage legislation 

  • This clearly states what employers must stick to when paying employees. There are different National Minimum Wage rates based on age for workers aged 16-24 and apprentices. In April 2018 the Government introduced a new mandatory National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and over. This figure is based on what the estimated real cost of living is. How could this affect the labour market?

Working population

  • This refers to the number of people in the UK of working age. In 2016 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated the UK working population to be around 33.6 million. This is made up from people aged 16-60 for women and 16-65 for men. The size of the working population is affected by the number of school leavers entering the labour market, those nearing retirement, migration and the number of students staying on at university.

The Labour Market is constantly changing, which is why it’s important to keep on top of it. Keep up to date with what’s going on in the news. It’s essential to know what’s happening in your preferred industry, as that way you’ll be able to plan for your future career. This relates to what we looked at last week, using Labour Market Information and turning it into Labour Market Intelligence, where you start to use and act upon the information you find.

Speak to a Careers & Welfare adviser on your site and continue to follow this blog as next time we’ll look at some of the top growing industries in Greater Manchester. 

You can also follow the Careers & Welfare team on Twitter @CareersTMC