Key contact

Andy Phillips
Head of Skills Research
West Midlands Regional Observatory
T: 0121 202 3251
E: andy.phillips@wmro.org

Related pages

More perspectives from the Regional Skills Assessment:

Employers

Sub-​regions and rural profile

Regional Skills Assessment 2007: individuals and demographic changes

Download the full report - PDF, 713 KBThe annual Regional Skills Assessment gives an overview of the key issues facing the West Midlands economy with regard to the skills agenda.

Skills are at the centre of the national and regional policy agenda. There is increasing recognition that increased investment in training and development by employers and raising the skill levels of individuals are the key to improving economic performance and tackling deprivation and exclusion.

 

Individuals and communities

The rates of skills and qualification attainment by individuals lag behind national trends.

In 2006, the proportion of the region's working age population with no qualifications (17.5%) was the highest in England. The proportions qualified to at least level 2 (64%) and at least level 3 (42%) were the lowest in England.

A lack of investment in skills is acting as a barrier to participation in employment, particularly in urban areas of the region. While 80% of working age people in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are in employment, in Stoke-​on-​Trent and the Black Country the employment rates are 70%. Only 63% of people in Birmingham are in employment.

Participation in employment is particularly low among:

  • Young people: Some 1 in 6 young people in the region are unemployed.
  • Older people: the rate of employment of men aged 50 to retirement age is 13 percentage points lower than the rate for 45-​49 year olds.
  • Certain minority ethnic communities: less than half of those of mixed parentage and those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are in employment. Less than 60% from the Black Caribbean and Black African communities are in employment.

 

If individuals are to take the initiative and invest in learning and training to upgrade their skills and qualifications, the wide range of inter-​related barriers they face will need to be addressed.

Action to tackle these issues can potentially be doubly beneficial. As well as helping to raise employment rates and tackle disadvantage and exclusion, there will also be benefits for employers and the wider economy.

 

Demographic change

These issues need to be set in the context of demographic change for the region. Demographic trends indicate that older people and those from the longer established minority ethnic communities represent another growing, but hitherto under-​utilised, source of labour and skills.

Between 2001 and 2025 the region is forecast to see increases of:

  • 120,000 in numbers of 55-​64 year olds (from 640,000 to 760,000)
  • 90,000 in the region's Asian communities (from 370,000 to 460,000)
  • 30,000 in the region's black communities (from 95,000 to 125,000)
  • 30,000 in numbers of people of mixed heritage

 

Downloads

The full report, key headlines, executive summary, a supplementary report on skills issues and challenges in key sectors, rural profile, data charts, datasets and sub-​regional profiles are all available on the downloads tab at the top of this page.

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