Labour Market Information (LMI)
What is LMI?
LMI is good quality information about what is happening now, and is expected to happen in the future, in the local, regional and national job market. LMI will focus on:
- The industries that are growing and declining
- The types and levels of jobs are increasing and decreasing
- What supply of labour is available – numbers, skill and qualification levels.
Why is LMI Important?
Understanding Labour Market Information (LMI) is becoming increasingly important as the world changes, so that all students can be aware of where different job roles that are needed around the country and what types of jobs may need more people in the future. LMI is important information that can help you make good decisions, and have realistic expectations, about your future learning and career choices.
What can LMI tell us?
- What jobs exist and where they are located
- Which jobs are growing and which jobs are declining
- The skills and qualifications and employers require for a particular job
- The number of jobs in different sectors and any changes that might affect this in the future
- The hours of work and pay that you are likely to earn
- The entry routes into different careers and employment sectors
Where can you find LMI?
- Official employment statistics agencies, for example the Office for National Statistics
- Local council, local enterprise partnership and chamber of commerce websites
- Watching the news on television, reading the news online, reading trade journals and local newspapers
- On websites which specialise in advertising jobs and careers
- Speaking to family and friends about what they do in their job or asking teachers or careers advisors
- Researching companies, professional institutes, academic institutions and sector skills councils online and following them on social media
- Taking part in work experience
- You might even find LMI when you’re walking around your local area, or you are out in the car by looking out for new businesses which are opening. Look at their website, find out what they do and find out what types of jobs they might create.
Nomis – official census and labour market statistics
You can also use the widget below called ‘The Careerometer’ from the LMI for All Service. The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as a description of the occupation.
Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.
National LMI
The posters below, from the Marches Career Hub, have the most recent information about different sectors nationally.
Local LMI
The posters below, from the National Careers Service, have the most recent local information about different sectors in the Shropshire region.