There are 52,800 employees in the Scottish  sport and recreation sector, accounting for 2.1% of all Scottish jobs and 9% of all UK employment in the sector.  An additional 150,000 volunteers also work in the sector and it is hoped this can be sustained by 2007.  43% of jobs (22,800) in the sector are part-time, 47% are full-time (24,600) and 10% are self-employed. 

Employment levels in the sector are forecast to increase to 63,000 by 2014, which is around 1.2% per annum.  All the industries forecast increased employment levels to 2014 with the exception of the caravan industry which is expected to decrease by 20%.

Scotland has approximately 3,150 workplaces in the sector, 77% of which have less than 10 employees.  In additional there are 13,000 sports clubs across Scotland run by voluntary committees.

The gross value added (GVA) output of the sector equalled £0.8 billion in 2004, 61% of which was from the sport and recreation industry.  Over the last 5 years, the average rate of growth of the sector has been 3.2%.  Output in the sector is forecast to increase further over the next ten years.

Workforce profile:

• 60% of the sector workforce is female (28,300), compared to 48% in the overall Scottish workforce
• 84% of those in playwork are female
• 60% of the caravan workforce is male - the only male-dominated industry in the sector
• the average age of the workforce is 35 years, which is younger than the Scottish average of 40 years
• the number of those aged 45 plus are expected to increase to 2014
• 98.3% of the Scottish sector workforce are white

25% of all employees are in elementary occupations.  Over the next ten years, the number of management, associate professional and administrative roles is predicted to increase.  Sports/community development, coaches and professionals’ jobs account for 39% of jobs in the sector, whilst 31% are operations roles.  75% of playwork staff are classified in sports/community development, coaches and professionals.

The distribution of qualification levels held by the sector workforce in Scotland is similar to the average for the whole Scotland economy.  However, there is a slightly higher proportion qualified to Levels 3, 4 and 5 than is average for the whole UK economy.

59% of all organisations report a skills shortage.  Skills gaps are often reported for soft skills, particularly as a high level of importance is given to communication, IT and initiative skills.  A lack of core skills is particularly evident among the under 25 age group.  Future skill requirements will be for customer service, basic IT, communication and child protection skills. 

Nearly one-third of employers have at least one hard-to-fill vacancy.  Vacancies are considered to be hard-to-fill because the unattractiveness of the job, a lack of financial incentives, plus the unsocial hours and shift work involved.  Roles that are the hardest-to-fill are sector specific and include: coaches, instructors, activity leaders and playworkers; plus operational staff

Key drivers in the Scottish sector include:

• an increased health awareness
• an increased demand for childcare and consequently playwork
• growing  over 50s market with time and income looking for leisure experiences
• increasingly higher customer expectations
• IT development and arising opportunities for on-line training for sport and fitness programs
• legislation and regulations
• difficulty in recruiting new entrants as positions are generally low skilled and there are low pay entry-level positions

Source: Skills Needs Assessment – Scotland 2005 and Futureskills Scotland 2005

For more labour market information on the active leisure and learning sector in Scotland see the Caledonian Business School workforce development report (2004).  

Keywords
Gross value added (GVA) is the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production.

For more information on sector industries in Scotland, data on employment levels and the occupational profiles see:

Scottish industries in the Active Leisure and Learning sector