New skills fact sheets bespoke to each borough and district

"These fact sheets will enable careers leaders in schools and colleges to advise pupils on viable career-paths both in the short-term and medium term."

Careers leaders have a brand new tool at their disposal after Warwickshire County Council published new, easy-to-access skills fact sheets for each borough and district.

The fact sheets, compiled by the council's Economy & Skills team, includes key information, trends and forecasts for employment-and-skills needs relevant to each locality.

Designed to help advise pupils and parents on the local employment market, they will also help schools, colleges and training-providers plan their future curriculum and provision to support the needs of the economy.

The fact sheets show current trends in job vacancies and forecast which type of jobs are likely to be more available in future or at most risk due to the impact of automisation. They will also highlight which skills employers are looking for when they advertise specific types of jobs

A range of published and commissioned research sources were consulted to build the picture for each borough and district. For example, current job trends were obtained from a programme called Labour Insight which continuously collects data from dozens of job boards and produces a range of reports which are always up to date.

The big picture was then developed using the established Local Economic Forecasting Model produced by Cambridge Econometrics, supplemented by national industrial forecasts published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Key trends highlighted by the research include:

* Forecasts indicate a shift toward more highly-skilled jobs across the whole of Warwickshire as those tasks that can be easily automated will be - which is the majority of low skill, low pay jobs.

* In the north of the county there is currently a largely industrial base whereas the south comprises more professional and technical services. For example, the fact sheet for Nuneaton & Bedworth highlights the current major sectors of warehousing, postal, motor vehicle and land transport are at high risk of automisation in the coming years. The same fact sheets highlights the highest growth in jobs will be for professionals in health, science and technology.  The fact sheet for Warwick district highlights that accounting and project management roles are most in demand today but the main growth in future will also be in health, science and technology occupations.

* Although the picture varies by borough and district there is strong correlation in the generic skills which employers are currently seeking when recruiting with customer service, teamwork and sales coming out top of the list in all areas.

Warwickshire County Council's Skills for Employment manager Glenn Robinson said:

""I would urge all employers to look at the fact sheet relevant to their areas to see if their business may have opportunities to grow or diversify into new areas or is at threat of contracting.

"These fact sheets will enable careers leaders in schools and colleges to advise pupils on viable career-paths both in the short-term and medium term; for example, if a young person wants to get a job with an apprenticeship at age 16 or go to university and return to the count to work in five years time.

"They will also enable employers to see if their business may have opportunities to grow or diversify into new areas or is at threat of contracting."

The fact sheets can be downloaded below:

North Warwickshire
Nuneaton and Bedworth
Rugby
Stratford-upon-Avon
Warwick