The number of employees in Wales has increased in 26% of establishments, whilst 70% report static levels. Medium and large organisations in Wales report a decline in employment over the last year. 25% of organisations forecast increasing staff levels over the next year. This may be the result of 60% of organisations reporting increases in sales over the last year and 70% forecasting continued increases.

20% of manufacturers and wholesalers are involved in export, which is much lower than the national average of 36%. 18% of organisations in Wales undertake some form of overseas sourcing, compared to the UK average of 16%. Textile manufacturers in Wales are less likely to serve the technical textile market (less than 10%) compared to the UK market average of 29%.

21% of establishments arrange or fund training, but only 3% are linked to a formal qualification. Job specific and health and safety training are most commonly provided by organisations. As across other regions, there is a reliance on in-house training.

4% of organisations are owned or part-owned by a member of an ethnic minority group, which is the lowest incidence in the UK with the exception of the South West. These organisations are more likely to be smaller and operating in apparel manufacturing and servicing.

Few organisations in the sector report having vacancies at any one time, but difficulties are anticipated 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.

Organisations in Wales are more likely to report skills gaps compared with the UK average. Skills shortage vacancies are mostly reported in operative jobs, specifically sewing machinists and textile machine operators. Examples of skills shortages include: shoemakers; garment cutters; linkers; and weavers. The most commonly identified skills gaps include machine operator skills and quality control skills.

Future challenges facing the Welsh sector include:

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

Source: Regional report – Wales 2004