Page 14 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan

14
2.5 Employment Patterns
Regional unemployment and NEET levels16 compare positively with national averages and have seen positive trends over recent years, however both remain an issue that serve as an inhibitor of sustainable economic growth.
Unemployment levels have reduced by 0.9% between 2013 and 2015 at a regional level to 5.8%, comparing positively with the national average of 6.2%.17
The roles undertaken by the workforce will change dramatically in the future with a significant increase in the need for ‘creativity’. A study conducted in 2011 by IBM identified creativity as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future’.18 It is anticipated that ‘non routine’ activities which cannot be automated, such as innovation, leadership and sales, will dominate employment, and that by 2015, 40% or more of an organisation’s work will be ‘non-routine’ up from 25% in 2010.’19
The ability to attract and retain talent is foremost for many business leaders ‘97 percent of CEOs in a PWC global survey said that having the right talent is the most critical factor for business growth.’20 This demand has the potential to create an hour glass workforce structure with a highly skilled, highly waged and mobile workforce at the top and a lower waged, lower skilled base with little centre ground.
Presently the region suffers from the opposite trend; the flask structure favours lower skilled and lower waged occupations. The labour force survey indicates that at a regional level 11.8% are employed in elementary occupations, a figure which exceeds national averages of 11%. Furthermore, the regional average for employment within caring personal service occupations and leisure, travel and related personal service occupations (11.6%) is significantly higher than national averages at 9.3% for the UK and 10.8% for Wales.
Furthermore, a significantly lower proportion of the regions labour force are employed within managerial, directors & senior officials (9.8%) and professional occupations (15.7%) which can be deemed high value occupations.
2.6 Gross Value Added (GVA) and Growth
GVA is the measure of the value of the wages and profits from goods and services produced in a given area. It is therefore a reliable indicator of the strength and performance of the economy. Most recent statistics indicate that not only is less produced for every person working in Wales but the economy continues to grow less than the UK average.
For instance, regional breakdowns show that unsurprisingly London had the highest GVA per head at £42,666, whilst Wales had the lowest at £17,753. Additionally, the figures indicate that on average every person in the UK generates £24,616 per head (an increase of 4.6% on 2013) but in Wales the average has risen by only 2.4%.
16 http://rlp.infobasecymru.net/IAS/themes/education/post-16education/pupildestinations
17 http://rlp.infobasecymru.net/IAS/themes/economy/employment/employmentstatus/tabular?viewId=556&geoId=1&subsetId=42 18 The Future’ – Steria
19 The Future’ – Steria
20 The Future’ – Steria
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Policy Context