What FE can teach HE about employability – and where both can do more
In a few short weeks, tens of thousands of young people fresh from receiving their A-level and BTEC results will head off to university to…
labour market
Labour Market Information (LMI) is information about what is happening in a labour market. LMI tends to focus on the industries that are growing and declining, the types and levels of jobs are increasing and decreasing and what supply of labour is available – numbers, skill and qualification levels.
Definition: A labour market is the place where workers and employees interact with each other. In this market, employers compete to hire the best, and the workers compete for the best satisfying job.
Every month, ONS releases information and statistics about the labour market.
Recruitment intentions are above pre-pandemic levels and appear to be on an upward trajectory. Almost three-quarters (74%) of employers say they are planning to take on new staff in the next three months. But as expected, recruitment difficulties remain, with 45% saying they have hard-to-fill vacancies.
The most popular response to hiring difficulties has been to raise pay (44%). But employers may be reaching a limit on how much further they can go on pay: only 27% anticipate raising pay in future to address hard-to-fill vacancies. Encouragingly, employers are also looking to other means to tackle staffing challenges: 39% have focused on upskilling more existing staff and 38% have advertised more jobs as flexible. These are vital factors in improving job quality and will be increasingly important for employers as they wrestle with recruitment as well as retention.
NEET Numbers Are Falling… But Are We Fixing The Right Things With Employers To Reduce It Further? FE Soundbite 862
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 862: 29th August 2026. NEET Numbers Are Falling… But Are We Fixing the Right Things with Employers To Reduce It…
August 2026 ONS Labour Market Data: Education Records Steepest Vacancy Fall as Hiring Hits Decade low
The Office for National Statistics published its August 2026 labour market figures this morning, covering April to June 2026 for the Labour Force Survey and…
Indeed Mid-Year Labour Market Update: UK job Postings are down 11% Since The Start of 2026 and 32% Below Pre-pandemic Levels
UK hiring demand weakened further during the first half of 2026, according to Indeed’s annual Mid-Year UK Labour Market Update. As of 17 July, job…
Young People Bear the Brunt as Labour Market Softens, latest ONS data shows
Starter jobs are disappearing faster than the wider market, youth unemployment is climbing, and one in three young people outside full time education is now…
Summer Hiring Slows in Another Blow to Young Workers, Indeed Data Shows
Summer job postings are tracking below prior years, spelling yet fewer avenues for British youth in a tough labour market. London, 10th June 2026: New…
ONS Labour Market Data March 2026: Pay Growth Hits Five-Year Low
Unemployment holds at 5.2%. Regular pay growth hits a five-year low. Vacancies slip further below pre-pandemic levels. And in April, it gets more expensive to…
Collaboration should be the watchword for National Apprenticeship Week
National Apprenticeship Week serves as a reminder of both the transformational impact that further and higher education can have on people’s lives and the acute…
CV-Library’s quarterly job market analysis offers cautious optimism for recovery in 2026
The UK job market showed early suggestions of recovery at the end of 2025, despite rising unemployment, falling payrolled jobs, and ongoing signs of strain according to CV-Library, one of the…
Another jobs tax – how the Budget fails to deliver growth or jobs
The Autumn budget was a missed opportunity. It wasn’t quite the catastrophe of last year, but it fell far short of the pro-jobs, pro-growth Budget…