While higher skilled jobs are increasingly concentrating in cities lower skilled jobs are dispersing out of city centres.
According to a recent report by the Centre for Cities (Moving on up, moving on out? Overcoming the jobs-skills mismatch) the mobility of lower skilled workers is becoming more important.
The geography of jobs is changing. At the higher end of the labour market advanced producer services, such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law, are increasingly concentrating in high cost, city centre locations and along the main transport corridors.
At the same time lower skilled jobs (Levels 1 and 2) have been slowly dispersing out of city centres. These jobs include process, plant and machine operatives, sales and customer service occupations, personal service occupations and administrative and secretarial occupations. This is driven in part by the decline of lower skilled industries in city centres and their dispersal into cities’ suburbs and their immediate hinterlands.
Both of these trends make mobility, qualifications and skills increasingly important at the lower end of the labour market.
At the same time as lower skilled jobs are dispersing, worklessness continues to be highly concentrated. In cities, worklessness is often concentrated in inner-city locations partly driven by the housing offer - leading to a mismatch between where workless city residents live and where the lower skilled, entry level jobs are located.
Lower skilled workers are less able to respond to changes in the location of jobs. Lower skilled workers have lower levels of access to private transport - often crucial for accessing jobs in out-of-town locations. The areas that have seen an increase in their share of lower skilled employment tend to be less accessible by public transport - often lower skilled people’s main mode of transport. Lower skilled workers are also unlikely to be able to move into cities’ more expensive suburbs in order to access jobs in these areas.
The report points out that these findings have a number of implications for the Work Programme and wider Government policy:
- Government departments need to better coordinate transport, jobs, planning and housing policies.
- Work Programme providers need to continue to focus on improving the skills and qualifications of the unemployed and help people access employment opportunities outside their immediate area.
- The success of welfare to work initiatives will depend on the effectiveness of local policy makers in supporting employment growth through the wider drivers of economic growth, such as planning and transport.
Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
Central London Connexions
October 2011
While higher skilled jobs are increasingly concentrating in cities lower skilled jobs are dispersing out of city centres.
According to a recent report by the Centre for Cities (Moving on up, moving on out? Overcoming the jobs-skills mismatch) the mobility of lower skilled workers is becoming more important.
The geography of jobs is changing. At the higher end of the labour market advanced producer services, such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law, are increasingly concentrating in high cost, city centre locations and along the main transport corridors.
At the same time lower skilled jobs (Levels 1 and 2) have been slowly dispersing out of city centres. These jobs include process, plant and machine operatives, sales and customer service occupations, personal service occupations and administrative and secretarial occupations. This is driven in part by the decline of lower skilled industries in city centres and their dispersal into cities’ suburbs and their immediate hinterlands.
Both of these trends make mobility, qualifications and skills increasingly important at the lower end of the labour market.
At the same time as lower skilled jobs are dispersing, worklessness continues to be highly concentrated. In cities, worklessness is often concentrated in inner-city locations partly driven by the housing offer - leading to a mismatch between where workless city residents live and where the lower skilled, entry level jobs are located.
Lower skilled workers are less able to respond to changes in the location of jobs. Lower skilled workers have lower levels of access to private transport - often crucial for accessing jobs in out-of-town locations. The areas that have seen an increase in their share of lower skilled employment tend to be less accessible by public transport - often lower skilled people’s main mode of transport. Lower skilled workers are also unlikely to be able to move into cities’ more expensive suburbs in order to access jobs in these areas.
The report points out that these findings have a number of implications for the Work Programme and wider Government policy:
- Government departments need to better coordinate transport, jobs, planning and housing policies.
- Work Programme providers need to continue to focus on improving the skills and qualifications of the unemployed and help people access employment opportunities outside their immediate area.
- The success of welfare to work initiatives will depend on the effectiveness of local policy makers in supporting employment growth through the wider drivers of economic growth, such as planning and transport.
Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
Central London Connexions
October 2011