Lutons Labour Market: Facts, Figures and the Future

TBRs Skills and Labour Market Team:

Jonathan Guest, Research Consultant
Michael Johnson, Senior Research Consultant
15/10/2012

Structure

Introduction
Lutons economy & key sectors
Lutons labour market and trends
Skills supply & demand
Skills gaps and shortages
Young people in Luton
Lutons Future: the workforce & economy of
tomorrow
Questions

Introduction
TBR Skills and Economic Development
Consultancy
Remit: Develop up to date evidence for LBC
particularly:
Data to understand and monitor skills & employment
in the local area, now and in the future.
Data that will support the interpretation of indicators
and stimulate discussion.

Comparison Areas (Coventry, Blackburn,

Bradford, Oldham, East of England and England)
Methodology

Lutons Economy
What is the current situation?
- Dominance of service industries
- Decline of manufacturing
- Rise of banking, finance & insurance

Enterprise in Luton
Strong in new firm formation

Key Sectors
Airport & Aerospace, Engineering & Automotive, ICT and Electronics
(and Software) & Creative Industries
Total number of Firms & Employment

7,000

600

520
6,000

Employment

500

Firms
5,000
360

400

360

4,000
300
6,120

3,000

2,000

4,650
2,810

1,000

4,470

200

70

100

0
ICT & Electronics

Automotive & Engineering

Creative Industries

Airport & Aerospace

Source: TCR 2012 - TBR Ref: W3/C1

Labour Market Trends in Luton

Unemployment rate in Luton is 10.3%, which is above
the unemployment rate in England (8.2%)
The economic inactivity rate in Luton has crept up since
2004 by almost 4 percentage points (6.4% to 10.3%).
Causes:
Individuals being students (32%)
Looking after family/home (36%).

Unlike other areas, long-term sick does not drive

economic inactivity in Luton (13.4% compared with
21.2% in England).

Lutons Labour Market

Lutons population:
199,200
Working Age Population:
130,500
Compared to England, there is a smaller proportion of
Lutons working-age population with:
NQF level 2 qualifications or above (62.8% in Luton to 72.7% in
England)
NQF level 3 qualifications or above (42.1% to 52.7%)
NQF level 4 qualifications or above (24.8% to 33.5%)

Proportion of working age without a qualification in

Luton (15.67%) is much higher than England average
(9.9%).

Skill Supply
Approximately 6,500 people from Luton attended University in
2010/11 many in London and the East of England.
The University of Bedfordshire has over 20,000 students studying in
2010/11.
Three main Further Education providers (Barnfield College, Luton
Sixth Form College, etc) maintained the volume of successfully
completed programmes by those aged 19 or over between 2005/6
and 2010/11.
Starts of apprenticeships increased since 2005 but still lower than
the comparator areas.
According to past business surveys, few companies have linkages
with local universities.

Skills Profile
No Qualification

Level 4 and above

40.0%

14.0%
12.0%

35.0%

11.7%
10.2%

10.0%

9.0%

9.4%

10.0%

8.0%

30.0%

36.3%

35.5%

27.7%

29.3%

29.8%
25.6%

25.0%
6.7%

6.0%

20.0%
15.0%

4.0%

10.0%

2.0%

5.0%

0.0%
Luton

Oldham

Coventry Blackburn Bradford

England

0.0%
Luton

Oldham Coventry Blackburn Bradford England

APS 2010 - TBR ref: C15 & C15.1

Skill Demand
Hard-to-fill vacancies are most likely to have been
experienced by firms in:
Manufacturing (12%)
Accommodation & food services (31%).

Roles include:

Sales Assistants and Retail Cashiers

Other Elementary Service Occupations
Information Technology and Telecommunication
Engineering Professionals

Reasons include: lack of applicants with the required skills

and applicants lacking the qualifications the company
demands

Skills Demand
August 2012 Top 10 Vacancies Occupations Sought (and Vacancies Notified)

Occupation by SOC
7111
9149
4150
9134
8212
9233
6115
7212
9121
9223

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Sales and retail assistants

Other goods handling and storage occupations n.e.c.
General office assistants/clerks
Packers, bottlers, canners, fillers
Van drivers
Cleaners, domestics
Care assistants and home carers
Customer care occupations
Labourers in building and woodworking trades
Kitchen and catering assistants

Vacancies
Notified

Occupations
Sought

37
52
13
0
43
38
153
46
52
25

2,090
710
515
275
240
210
195
165
140
130

JCP (2012) TBR: W1

Skills Gaps & Shortages

Supply & Demand

Uncovering Employer
Needs

Skills Mismatch
Unemployed

Gaps and Shortages

Skills Gaps & Shortages

Technical, practical or job specific skills:
e.g. Engineering and technician skills, job specific but

also linked to STEM skills.

Sales and marketing

e.g. Numeracy & Literacy - soft skills (listening,

language)

Customer service skills & communication skills:

e.g. Soft skills, team working, customer service.

Knowledge of English among non-native speakers

Employment & Young People

NEETs Rise between 2010 and 2011 of 26%.
Lutons proportion of NEETs (7.4%) is higher than the
regional (6%) and national average (6.1%).

GCSEs
Slightly higher proportion of pupils getting 5 A*-C grades
than national average.

Apprenticeships
In 2012, 7% of businesses employed apprentices.
Apprenticeship Enrolments in Luton 2012
Sector

Science, Engineering & Manufacturing Technologies

Business Information Technology & Telecommunication
Building Services Engineering
Customer Service & Contact Centre
Total

Enrolments Higher Level

60
150
120
30
1,110

Enrolments Lower Level

20
20
20
140
880

JCP (2012) TBR: W1:S14.4

Future prospects
Forecasts for 2012, 2017, 2022, 2027 and 2032:
Sector forecasts
Occupation forecasts
Skills forecasts

Methodology & Data:

APS, Working Futures, EEFM.

Lutons Future: The workforce & economy of tomorrow

TBR 2012 - TBR Ref: W2/C5

Lutons Future: The workforce & economy of tomorrow

TBR 2012 - TBR Ref: W2/C7

Lutons Future: The workforce & economy of tomorrow

TBR 2012 - TBR Ref: W2/C6

Future prospects Assets

University & FE Colleges
Growth industries and hubs for hi-tech industries at Butterfield
Business Park and aerospace focusing around the Airport
Regeneration (The Mall, St Georges Square and Railway Station)
Transport links including rail and road networks
Carnival Arts Centre

Questions

Turn on keypad

Press down On/off button

for a few seconds and
the word Qwizdom will
appear

Turn on keypad
Slide Button to the right
and your remote number
will appear on screen

Dont forget to press send

Just before you go to sleep,

you notice a huge spider
on the bedroom wall. Would you
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Ignore it and go to sleep

Kill the spider
Carefully take the spider outside
Get someone else to deal with it
Panic!

Question 1
Which of the following issues most inhibits the
skills system from delivering better outcomes?
A. Lack of employer commitment to training
B. Information, advice and guidance available to
individuals is inadequate
C. Inflexibility of public funding mechanisms
D. Quality of the training available too often failing to
meet the required standard

Question 2
Which sector will do most to drive future
economic growth in Luton?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Airport & Aerospace

Automotive & Engineering
Creative Industries
ICT and Electronics (and software)

Question 3
What is the biggest challenge facing Lutons
labour market?
A. Low aspirations of those seeking employment
B. Long-term unemployment restricting the supply of
work-ready residents
C. Depressed economic conditions leading to employers
not hiring
D. Lack of alignment between supply of training and
demand for skills
E. National welfare arrangements providing insufficient
incentive to work

Question 4
Which of these assets should Luton showcase as
its primary economic competitive advantage?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Transport connectivity
Education institutions
Quality of life
Skilled workforce
Communications infrastructure
Value for money (in terms of costs of office space,
relative wages rates etc.)

Question 5
What area of skills development should Luton
prioritise?
A. Basic skills provision, to ensure that everyone
seeking work meets basic literacy and numeracy
standards
B. Expansion of apprenticeship opportunities, to offer
young people the chance to develop practical skills
C. Developing programmes to attract and retain people
with high level skills
D. Encouraging lifelong learning to refresh the skills
base of the entire adult population