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Workforce Summary

The employment rate in Liverpool City Region continued to rise faster than the rest of the North West and the UK. The Region saw the number of employed residents rise by 4.8% since 1999, compared to 0.4% in the North West and 0.6% nationally. Across the wider City Region the employment rate grew by 3.8%.

Nature and structure of the labour force, demographics

Over a ten-year period, Liverpool City Region showed considerably stronger growth than nationally, in developing employment in business services (44% compared to 35%) and financial services (19% compared to 2%). The area also mirrors the national change in a reduction in manufacturing jobs. 

Employment rate by Sector:

Education and Qualification

The results of the Government`s Annual Population Survey in 2007 showed that the wider City Region had higher proportions of the workforce in job-related training than the UK average. Nearly one in three people were being trained within their workplace. This level was on the rise in the Liverpool City Region at a time when the national figure was falling. An active approach to training is seen as a reflection of employers` commitment to driving up productivity and competitiveness.

The continued investment in raising GCSE-level attainment in the Liverpool City Region has seen us surpass the national average achievement. In 2008, 66.7% of Liverpool City Region students gained 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C.

Availability

Liverpool City Region has a population of 1.6m people, with an increasing working age population of 980,000. The City Region is home to over 80,000 full-time students and in the North West of England, 227,000 are at Level 4 (graduate level).

Those aged between 16 and 19 represent 9.4% of the working age group, which is above the 8.1% national average. People in their twenties account for 19.4% of the working age population. A supply of highly skilled staff is essential to Liverpool City Region`s continued success as a leading location.

The catchment serving Liverpool is extremely large scale with over 1.2 million residents within 35 minutes` travel of the city`s main employment locations.

Within a 50 to 60 minute commute, the residential population rises to 3,916,000 people. Comparable catchments in the North include Birmingham (1,166,500) and Central Manchester (1,120,000) - both slightly smaller due to higher congestion levels.

Labour Costs

Liverpool City Region was the UK`s leading location for competitive operating costs, when compared with 10 UK city locations in an independent survey; 2009 Image Tracking Research.

Training and Recruitment Initiatives

The People Pool - The employer engagement arm of JET (Jobs Employment Training) service is committed to providing professional, flexible, free support to all employers in the city who wish to invest in a local workforce. The people pool will link employers to a pool of motivated and trained candidates from a database with over 500 employment, training and community organisations across the region.

Train to Gain is a service available for companies wishing to attract talent by providing an independent and impartial Skills Brokerage Service, to diagnose business and training needs. In order to meet these needs Train to Gain will source training and wider business development activities.

Apprenticeship programmes are available through Connexions for 16 - 19 year olds who attract funding opportunities.

The Skills Boost programme is designed to deliver customised training linked to identified employer vacancies. These programmes provide flexible learning for individuals to gain access to employment.