The number of employees in the sector has increased in 21% of organisations. Medium and large organisations in Northern Ireland report a decline in employment over the last year. 60% of organisations expected to maintain staffing levels in the future. This may be the result of 48% of organisations reporting increases in sales over the last year and 61% forecast continued increases.

42% of manufacturers and wholesalers are involved in export, which is slightly higher than the UK national average of 36%. Approximately 20% of organisations in textile manufacturers in Northern Ireland serve the technical textile market, compared to the UK market average of 29%.

29% of establishments arrange or fund training, but only 3% are linked to a formal qualification. Job specific, machine specific, and health and safety training are most commonly provided by organisations. As across other regions, there is a reliance on in-house training.

5% of organisations are owned or part-owned by a member of an ethnic minority group, which is one of the lowest incidences in the UK. However, less than 1% of the population as whole is a member of an ethnic minority group.

A significant number of organisations in Northern Ireland are affected by skills deficiencies and expect difficulties in replacing staff as they retire over the next years. Managers and operative staff are expected to be the most difficult to replace when staff retire. Skills shortages are mostly reported in operative jobs, specifically sewing machinists and textile machine operators. Examples of skills shortages include: shoemakers; garment cutters; linkers; and weavers

Skills shortage vacancies account for around a quarter of total vacancies (26%) and 1% of total employment in the sector. This is also similar to the level of skills shortages seen across the whole economy in Northern Ireland.

Future challenges facing organisations in the sector in Northern Ireland include:

• attracting new customers
• labour costs
• reducing overall costs
• improving quality of service to customers

Source: Skills Needs Assessment 2005a and Regional report – Northern Ireland 2004