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The transition from school to work in the UK has undergone dramatic change since the 1970s and the labour market that young people are entering is now significantly different to that faced by previous generations. While securing employment has always proven difficult for unqualified youth, they are particularly disadvantaged in today’s labour market. In place of full-time employment, young people are being confronted with different forms of flexible employment. However, the growth in the demand for flexible labour has benefited young people engaged in full-time education who have over the 1990s increasingly combined study and work. Interviews with senior management in the retail grocery sector suggest that the availability of student labour has enabled them to maintain a high-quality labour force while pursuing flexible work practices. This illustrates the heterogeneous nature of the youth labour market and the need to make clear distinctions between those young people who are just in the labour market and those who are combining education and employment. Importantly, the growth in student employment emphasises the need to consider students as a significant segment of both the youth and general labour market.

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This report was written for the Circle for Research Cooperation on Trends in Occupations and Qualifications (CIRETOQ). The paper begins by describing the purpose of occupational forecasts as being primarily for labour market policy purposes. It presents the sources of the collected data and the medium-term macroeconomic forecasts; sectoral forecasts 1991-98; occupational forecasts 1991-98; and, trends in female employment. The authors then report on occupation and education, giving an overview of the Irish education system; the educational structure of occupations in 1991; median years of education for each occupation; the relationship between occupational growth and median years of education; and, the implications of occupational change for educational qualifications. They conclude that the evidence points to the growing importance of educational qualifications in an increasingly white collar labour market. They also assert that, for a complete examination of the relationship between occupation and educational qualifications, both gender and age factors need to be incorporated. Show less

This article is based upon research which examined the youth labour market in Cumbria, a predominantly rural labour market located in north-west England. It argues that individual and structural considerations must be extended to incorporate employer behaviour and attitudes towards young men and women. Employers’ assessment of young people’s skills; their willingness to consider both young males and females for jobs; and the extent to which they are prepared through education/training to address skill gaps and/or enhance career opportunities, can have significant implications for young people’s labour market opportunities. While these issues affect all young people, those living in restricted rural labour markets can face particular difficulties. Those who have poor social networks are at risk of marginalisation and/or exclusion because rural employers rely almost exclusively upon local labour that is recruited through a mix of local formal and informal networks. Therefore young people’s ability and/or willingness to seek opportunities outside their local area is an important consideration. While employed young people are concentrated in relatively low-skilled jobs, the extent to which they have access to formal career and education/training opportunities is dependent upon the size and profile of local employers. There are also significant inter-county differences in the type of employment opportunities available to young people. Young people in west Cumbria, especially males, are reliant upon a declining manufacturing sector. Movement into service sector employment is likely to prove difficult because of the type of skills being demanded by employers. The findings suggest that young males’ knowledge and understanding of labour market change are issues that may need attention. However, there may be a reluctance and/or bias on the part of some local employers to recruit young men because they are not considered to have the requisite skills.

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