UKCES

This document is the second of three volumes that present Working Futures: New Projections of Occupational  Employment by Sector and Region. The work was commissioned by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA). This second volume focuses on the situation in the constituent countries within the UK and the English Regions. This new set of forecasts updates earlier work commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The results are intended to provide a sound statistical foundation for the deliberations of the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and Local Learning and Skills Councils (LLSCs), about future developments in occupational employment.

This overview provides a summary of projections of sectoral and occupational employment over the period to 2012 for the areas covered by Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in England, and for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Note that the term ‘region’ is used here as a shorthand to cover all the English regions (as covered by the RDAs); together with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Information is also presented for two national comparators: England and the UK.

The projections presented incorporate the latest sectoral employment data from ONS, including the 2001 Annual Business Inquiry. They also take note of the headline results emerging from the Census of Population for 2001, although the detailed results were not available in time to be fully reflected in the present analysis. Information about sources and methods is presented in Annex A of the present document and in greater detail in the separate Technical Report. A full exposition of the projection methodology is also provided in the Technical Report. Section 1.2 provides a summary account of the general approach to the projections. More specific details relating to the occupational employment projections and replacement demands are presented in Section 1.3.