What is LMI?

LMI stands for labour market information and can be gained from a number of different sources and includes a range of information:-

•      Statistics on the number of people not in work, education or training

•      The type and number of jobs available in different parts of the UK

•      Information on salaries, benefits, working hours etc

•      Job vacancies and opportunities

•      The tasks involved in different jobs on a daily, monthly and annual basis

•      Information on different companies, their products and services

•      How people get into their roles and move between employers

•      Which job areas are the most competitive and in which sectors

•      Which jobs are increasing and decreasing and how this trend may change over the coming months and years

•      The skills required to do different jobs, which skills are in demand and how they can be transferred to move into other careers

•      The number of people from different ethnic backgrounds and genders who are employed in which job areas and in which positions 

•      Destinations of people at various points in their lives eg leaving school, further education and higher education

•      Factors which are changing the nature of future careers eg environmental, digital, artificial intelligence, hybrid working (home/office) and wellbeing 

The process of data collection itself is important to identify skills shortages locally and nationally and examine patterns of where careers are increasing and decreasing.  Other areas of interest that have not always been considered an important part of LMI data but are now being given greater focus include – 

·       The healthcare of the nation

·       Data on national wellbeing

·       Changes in house prices

·       Preparation for a future pandemic

·       The impact on the environment

Collection methods take place online, via telephone and door to door.  The new survey called The Transformed Labour Force Survey is in the process of being implemented by Spring 2024. 

LMI Resources

Click on the image below for some useful LMI websites.

Here is a selection of some of the key free LMI sources available to explore which include both written and digital sources -

Adviza Portal

Events/Webinars - https://www.adviza.org.uk/pages/events/site/careers-guidance-for-you/category/events 

Podcasts - https://www.adviza.org.uk/pages/site/careers-guidance-for-you/category/career-chat-podcasts 

eCLIPS - https://www.adviza.org.uk/eclips-resource - Includes jobs profiles, average hours worked, employment by geographical area, unemployment rates, live vacancies and over 60 advice leaflets related to education and employment including information on skills, CV writing, job hunting tips etc

Post 18 Careers Websites

Find Your Future - Student Ladder - https://www.grows.ac.uk/resources/education-options/student-ladder  - information on over 2500 work experience placements, graduate schemes and internship opportunities (16-24 years old)

National Careers Service - https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers - over 800 job profiles, average salary information, working hours, job descriptions, skills assessment etc

Prospects - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles - job profiles and  https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors - Job sectors

Prospects Luminate - https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do - the outcomes of students who have left university last year and in previous years

UCAS Apprenticeships - https://www.ucas.com/apprenticeships - information on employers offering degree apprenticeships and other opportunities

LMI Local and National Data

LMI for All - https://www.lmiforall.org.uk/ - is an online data portal, which connects existing sources of high quality, reliable LMI. There are also over 1,000 different video clips, teaching resources and a helpful careers calendar detailing career-related events around the UK.

Careers and Employment Events - job and careers events such as the National Careers Guidance Show, feature seminars and talks on topics such as developments in specific industry sectors.  Many events are also listed on the website - https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/events/ 

Youth Employment - LMI available on youth friendly employers - https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/careers-advice-help/look-for-the-youth-friendly-employer-mark/ and career guides - https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/careers-hub/ 

 

Resources and Acknowledgements:

Office for National Statistics - https://www.ons.gov.uk/  

NOMIS - https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/ 

UCAS - https://www.ucas.com/file/130406/download?token=AmyCbLi4 

World Skills - https://www.worldskillsuk.org/ and information on employers - https://www.worldskillsuk.org/success-stories-category/employers-organisations/ 

Warwick Institute for Employment Research - https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier 

Youth Employment - https://www.youthemployment.org.uk 

THE SKILLS GAP

Your guide to LMI | Adviza

The introduction of the LSIPS (Local Skills Improvement Plans) in 2023 by the government, are designed to ensure skills shortages in the 38 different areas of the country are addressed and to develop better working and funding between employers, training providers and stakeholders and help people gain the skills they need and to increase their job prospects.  These are led by ERBs (Employer Representative Bodies) and will ensure plans are put into practice and reviewed.  See our Skills We Need Now! | Adviza article and associated news pieces within the Skills We Need Now series, for more information on this.

 

The National Picture

In the UK a shortage of skills in certain areas has led to several industry sectors being particular affected – 

• Healthcare
• Medical
• Hospitality
• Construction
• IT
• STEM
• Teaching

It can be very useful to be aware of these and explore specific roles within these sectors to see where your own skills, abilities and experience may be able to fill a gap and ultimately provide a solution for your own employment needs and those of the wider UK economy.  More information about this can be found here - A Guide To The UK Shortage Occupation List 2023 | Nation.better (nationbetter.uk) 

The World Skills website has a great section on different skills in demand in the UK and globally and how young people can develop these and build a career with these – 

Develop Your Skills With Our Skills Programmes | WorldSkills UK

Many of these careers involve the areas of working with other people, fixing things, using technology and being creative.  Sharing skills is one of the main themes that appears across different countries as in Korea a system has been set up for people to teach their skills to others they have learned from to ensure they are passed on to the next generation and in the UK there is a focus on ensuring excellent quality teaching in technical and vocational education.

The first museum dedicated to the past, present and history of skills is opened in Shanghai this year on 6 November 2023 - WorldSkills Museum to open its doors on 6 November and will enable people to reflect and learn from the skills of the past and celebrate how these are being channelled and developed into the skills of the future.

Although there is obviously an increasing focus on technical and scientific skills, the importance of people skills is just as vital so there are opportunities for all.  If you need to develop your people skills further – here are some ways to help with this –

• Listen consciously to others
• Respect cultural differences
• Praise the contributions of others
• Expand the network of people you communicate with
• Negotiate to ensure all viewpoints are taken into consideration
• Recognise and understand the role of your own and other peoples’ emotions in conversation

For those who are firmly focused on developing technologies – here are the top ten new emerging technologies from the World Economic Forum in June 2023 – 

Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023 report | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

1)    Flexible Batteries – more adaptable types of batteries made of different, more pliable materials – especially useful for healthcare and e-textiles.

2)    Generative Artificial Intelligence – to increase productivity and allow time for people to work on more interesting, higher level activities and increase job satisfaction.

3)    Sustainable Aviation Fuel – increasing use of SAF to work towards net 0% by 2050 – needs to increase to 13-15% by 2040 to be able to achieve this target – 2% of all global emissions of CO2 are from airlines.

4)    Designer Phages – the engineering of microbes which live on human skin can be used to improve and support the health of humans, plants and animals.

5)    Metaverse for Mental Health – building mental health support into the online world eg as part of video games and VR to develop mindfulness techniques.

6)    Wearable Plant Sensors – the use of physical sensors on plants to monitor environmental conditions and develop agricultural production and reduce waste.

7)    Spatial Omics – a method of combining imaging techniques and DNA sequencing to be able to understand and treat many diseases on a tiny scale and change the impact on life.

8)    Flexible Neural Electronics – Brain machine interfaces to ultimately control machines with thought processes.

9)    Sustainable Computing – data centres use approximately 1% of global electricity so they do have an impact on the environment but innovative ways are being developed to combat this.

10)   AI Facilitated Healthcare – AI can help in different ways to extend healthcare to more isolated communities and to more efficiently match healthcare facilities to people to reduce the increasing problem globally of long wait times for healthcare treatments.