May Labour Market Information Bulletin

Your monthly update for labour market information with local and national news.

Don’t forget – you can see local job vacancies our own Online Jobs Board.

Southampton welcomes the return the cruise industry

Southampton’s cruise industry is riding on the crest of a wave with the plans to welcome seven additional cruise ships and two million passengers this year, according to a report in the daily echo. Five of the seven ships are brand new ships and the other two are making their maiden calls to Southampton.

Jobs for East London music venue

Plans for a giant music venue in East London have been approved to be built on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The report on the BBC website says the build could create 4,300 jobs in the construction period and 3,200 jobs a year once open.

London tops the charts for microbusinesses

A study of over two million businesses by GoDaddy reveals the 14 highest constituencies for microbusiness density are all in London. The research also showed that London has the second highest proportion of female business owners behind Scotland. The top areas for micro businesses are led by City of London and Westminster with 13.33 microbusinesses for every 100 people.

Hundreds of jobs as government announces EV revolution

Hundreds of new jobs are expected with the expansion of charge points by 2030. The new government strategy is to expand to around 300,000 public chargers by the end of the decade.

Farmers required

New farmers are being recruited to meet increasing demand for liquid milk exports as part of Arla’s strategy according to a new report in Farminguk.

Decline in construction apprenticeships being taken up in London

According to a report in Construction News the number of construction apprenticeships starting in London has dropped in the last three years with 18 per cent few people taking up an apprenticeship in 2020/21 than in 2017/18.

Parkdean Resorts are recruiting

Parkdean Resorts are recruiting across its 66 parks for a total of 7,000 seasonal jobs as well as full-time jobs across sales, food and beverage and housekeeping roles. In the South West region this includes four parks on the Isle of Wight, eight in Cornwall, four in Devon and three in Dorset.

Home Bargains – one to watch!

Business Live report that Home Bargains created over 2,000 jobs in the last year and have opened more stores. Further growth is expected.

Free Courses for Jobs

An expansion of Skills for Life free courses for jobs will help more adults take a free level 3 qualification (equivalent to A levels) to help them access new job opportunities or increase their wages.

Courses are now available to those aged 19+, living in England, if any of the below apply:

Applicants do not already have a level 3 qualification such as A levels or an Advanced Technical Diploma (and do not have a qualification at a higher level)
Applicants are unemployed
Applicants earn below the National Living Wage annually (£18,525)

For information on the range of qualifications available visit: Free Courses for Jobs. To search for a course see: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a course/searchFreeCourse

Tesco to give pay rise in line with Lidl and Aldi

Tesco are the latest supermarket to give their employees a pay rise. From 24th July staff will get £10.10 per hour and delivery drivers and click and collect assistants will get £11.00 per hour, in line with Lidl and Aldi stores.

Transport and storage are fastest growing broad industry group

A report from ONS on the rise of UK warehouses is available. With the increase in online shopping, the number of businesses classed as ‘transport and storage’ was 88% higher in 2021 than 2011 and 21% higher than in 2019, making it the fastest growing broad industry group. The graph below shows how other broad industry groups have changed between 2011 and 2021 and between 2019 and 2021.

Below is a summary of the top employers recruiting online in the last 12 months within Surrey and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. The NHS, as always, had the most vacancies with 18,703 during the 12 months to March 2022 – far more than any other employer! The next largest employer was Surrey County Council with 3,555 vacancies.