LMI-Learning - Labour Market Information - Online Learning Modules - NGRF

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LMI-Learning - Labour Market Information - Online Learning Modules - NGRF

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LMI-Learning is being developed by the Institute for Employment Research , University of Warwick, together with KnowNet. Financial support has come from the Sector Skills Development Agency.

Working in partnership with stakeholders to gather LMI

Gathering Labour Market Information is quite a complex and involved process. As a practitioner you probably have your favoured sources of LMI...
Your favourite LMI sources might include:

The prospects website if you work in Higher Education

The connexions website for simply expressed occupational information of local vacancies

Jobcentre Plus for vacancy or benefit claim information

Learndirect for course information

Some tips:,/h2>

This information is a great start, but sometimes you will want or need more complex information. Your resources should perhaps also include the NGRF Future Trends website.

It's also suggested elsewhere on this website that you might like to start building links with your own network of local, regional, national and even international employers. This might be through direct visits or other contact e.g. subscribing to mailing lists or making a point of checking careers sections of any relevant websites.

However, don't be shy about building links with other organisations, for example Sector Skills Councils:

What is a Sector Skills council?

A SSC is an employer-led, independent organisation that covers a specific sector across the UK. The four key goals are:

  • to reduce skills gaps and shortages
  • improve productivity, business and public service performance
  • increase opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector's workforce
  • improve learning supply including apprenticeships, higher education and National Occupational Standards (NOS).

Of course they have their own agenda, but it is one that is valuable to practitioners too, who need to know about the labour market in order to assist their clients appropriately.

There are currently 25 Sector Skills Councils. Together, the SSCs cover approximately 85 per cent of the UK workforce.

The Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) has responsibility for providing cover for those industries that fall outside the SSCs and actively engages with trade unions and professional bodies in this role.

The SSDA is also responsible for funding, supporting and monitoring the SSCs.

would you like more: information on skills shortages and recruitment difficulties; employment figures and trend; information about businesses operating within sectors?

Why bother with Sector Skills Councils?

Why bother with Sector Skills Councils?

Asked to answer this question, one representative of Skillset - the Sector Skills Council for the Audio-visual industry - came up with this response:

As an adviser, you would probably like more:

  • information on skills shortages and recruitment difficulties
  • employment figures and trend
  • information about businesses operating within sectors

Did you know that this is the very information that SSCs collect as part of their annual research surveys!

The answer continues...

Although not the only source of LMI, this information can assist you because it is based on:
An in-depth understanding and knowledge of their sectors
...some SSCs have been around for a long time and so a picture has built up often over years of undertaking research into the skills and recruitment needs of their industries. For example, Skillset, Construction Skills and People 1st to name but 3 have been around for many years
Direct employer input and engagement in the research process
...the research is done directly with employers of all sizes and across the UK and most of the research findings of SSCs are verified by employers
Approaches and methodologies that are fit for purpose
...SSCs design employer surveys and other research instruments that aim to get the best possible responses.
Sector and occupational classifications that present an accurate picture of our sectors
...this is the most important point to make. If you look at the government research (through the Labour Force Survey carried out by ONS) they use generic occupational classifications (see below) that are applied in each sector.
...For example -Classification of AV Sector by official sources looks like this:
  • Managers and senior officials
  • Professional
  • Associate professional and technical
  • Administrative and secretarial
  • Skilled trades
  • Caring, leisure and personal service
  • Sales and customer service
  • Process, plant and machine operatives and drivers
  • Routine unskilled
...But within the audio visual industries, these are meaningless
breakdown of occupations runs into a taxonomy of several hundred job titles! Find out more from the Media jobs section of the Skillset website

Skillset is just one of the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) that has agreed to disseminate its Labour Market information through the National Guidance Research Forum Future Trends website.

Use this resource, but don't be afraid to make direct contact with relevant Sector Skills Councils as well. They will be happy to talk to you!

Sector Skills Councils: Links and sources

Skillset is just one of the Sector Skills Councils (SSC)

Sector Skills Councils (SSC)

List of Sector Skills Councils

Sector Skills Development Agency

National Guidance Research Forum, Future Trends

Next: Why bother visiting opportunity providers myself?

It's true, a lot of information is available on opportunity provider websites, but that's only a partial picture, a personal contact might also get you...

Last modified 2007-07-04 11:40 AM
Last cached: 2008-05-08 10:30 AM