There are 9,500 vacancies in the sector and 15% of establishments report vacancies, that is 2% of the total employment in the sector. Most vacancies are in sales and customer service occupations (29%), associate professional and technical occupations (15%) and administrative and secretarial occupations (15%).

There are 2,600 hard-to-fill vacancies in the sector.  6% of establishments report hard-to-fill vacancies which accounts for 1% of the employment.  Hard-to-fill vacancies were reported in sales and customer service occupations (26%), process, plant and machine operatives (23%) and elementary occupations (18%).

There are 1,500 skill-shortage vacancies and 3% of establishments report skill-shortage vacancies which accounts for 16% of all vacancies. 23% of establishments also report internal skill gaps accounting for 15% of employment. Most internal skill gaps were with managers and senior officials (31%), professional occupations (22%) and sales and customer service occupations (17%).

Source: SSDA Skills Matrix 2004