This
project is financed by the LSC, SEEDA and
the European Social Fund
LOCAL
DATA
Look out for updated data from the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI)
in this edition. ABI data shows the number (and percentage) of
employees in each industrial sector for the South East as a whole,
and for each local authority area of Berkshire.
Remember, this section includes many web links
to useful sources of information, both on the Labour
Market Focus website which supports this e-bulletin,
and on reliable external websites.
VACANCIES
This section provides details of and links to vacancies in the area and
beyond.
The following vacancies are a sample of those
sourced and still available at the time of print.
First Group plc runs both train and bus services in Berkshire and beyond.
For further information about careers and job opportunities, see http://www.firstgroup.com/careers_firstop.php
Bayer MaterialScience AG is one of the world's
largest producers of polymers and high-performance
plastics. Bayer MaterialScience has its UK base
in Newbury, Berkshire. For information about vacancies,
see http://www.jobs.bayer.co.uk/
For information about a variety of careers
available with Microsoft in Reading and
other areas of the UK, please click
here.
Reading University has a variety of vacancies for office-based, security,
catering and other types of work. For more information, see http://www.info.rdg.ac.uk/newjobs/
AWE plc, based in Aldermaston, has a variety of scientific, engineering,
technical and office jobs available. For further information pleaseclick
here
A variety of vacancies are
available at Berkshire’s
Borough Councils and District Councils:
The Thames Valley Police is
recruiting Police Community Support Officers
in the Thames Valley area. For further information,
visithttp://www.rewardingrole.co.uk. Source: The Reading Chronicle 13/04/06.
EURES – European
Employment Services
EURES stands for European Employment Services and
is a network that links the Public Employment
Services of all 28 EEA countries (Jobcentre Plus
in the UK). EEA is the countries of the EU and
Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. In Jobcentre
Plus, there is a network of 24 EURES Advisers,
with a minimum of 1 EURES Adviser (EA) per region,
with 5 in London, 2 in the South East and 2 in
East of England etc. There are over 750 EURES
Advisers throughout the EEA.
The European Commission started EURES in 1994
with the aim of assisting European citizens with
their mobility rights and to offer advice and guidance
via their dedicated website and specialist EURES
Advisers.
For jobseekers who are looking to relocate to
another EEA country, EURES Advisers can offer advice
and guidance on where and how to look and the requirements
for each country.
Please note most employers in other countries
require applicants to speak their language. Only
very occasionally are there opportunities for people
without any additional languages.
European vacancies are available by:
Searching the job
point machines in Jobcentre Plus offices – using
the buttons for each EURES country to access
their vacancies
Visiting the Jobcentre
Plus website, click on “Looking for a
Job?” and follow the links
Visiting
the EURES website on http://www.eures-jobs.com.
This is known
as the European Job Mobility Portal and it
has four sections:
Jobseekers
Contains links to search for a job and CV on-line
Employers
Contains links to search for CVs and advertise
a job.
Living and Working
To help customers make informed decisions about
working in another country, there is a wealth
of information including: finding accommodation,
taxation, cost of living, health, social legislation
and comparability of qualifications. There is
also information on the labour markets by country
and region.
Learning
This section contains information on education
and training opportunities throughout Europe,
with links to higher education institutions and
details of courses.
The EURES website also gives customers the option
to access the details of all of the 750+ EURES
Advisers for the whole of the EEA, including their
contact details and what languages they speak.
The EURES Advisers are there to assist customers
with specific questions/problems that cannot be
answered via the website
CV Online is available to customers who are looking
to relocate to another EEA country and wish to
advertise their CV to potential employers.
Customers need to access the Jobseekers section
on the EURES website http://www.eures-jobs.com and click on the CV online section and follow the
guidance.
The two South East based EURES Advisers details
are as follows:
Susan Oyston
Ashford Jobcentre
Kent House
Station Road
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1YS
Tel: 0044 (0)1233 203356
Mob: 0044 (0)7779 356386
Fax: 0044 (0)1233 203309
E-mail: susan.oyston@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Aloma Onyemah
Jobcentre Plus
Wynnstay House
121 High Street
Cosham
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO6 3DR
Tel: 0044 (0)23 92304841
Mob: 0044(0)789 1682805
Fax: 0044 (0)23 92304898
Email: aloma.onyemah@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Vacancies (Jobcentre Plus) by occupation are shown
in the graph below for Great Britain and the South
East. In total, in March 2007 the South East had
over 31,500 vacancies, and there were almost 300,000
in Great Britain as a whole.
Source: ONS, Nomis
Vacancies by occupation are broken down in the graph
below for the local authority areas of Berkshire.
Source: ONS, NOMIS
By far the greatest proportion of vacancies notified
in the region during March was Elementary Occupations
(27.2%). However, these roles represented a greater
proportion of vacancies in West Berkshire, but smaller
proportions in Bracknell Forest, Slough and Wokingham.
Other significant variations from the regional breakdown
of vacancies by occupation for local authority areas
in Berkshire include:
A
much higher than average proportion of vacancies
in Windsor and Maidenhead in Personal Service
Occupations (19.3%).
A
higher than average proportion of vacancies
in Bracknell Forest in Process, Plant and Machine
Operative roles (24.0%).
A
higher than average proportion of vacancies
in Reading in Sales and Customer Service Occupations
(18.1%).
The most recent figures for the Job Seekers Allowance
(JSA) Claimant Count have been released by NOMIS,
the Office of National Statistics.
The claimant count records the number of people claiming
JSA and National Insurance credits at Job Centre
Plus local offices. Although the figures are not
an official measure of unemployment, they are the
only indicative statistics available for smaller
scale areas.
For information, working age is defined as 16-64
for males and 16-60 for females, and working age
population figures are derived from mid-year population
estimates which are compatible with the 2001 Census.
The graph below highlights that within Berkshire
as a whole, 1.6% of working age population are claiming
JSA. Bracknell Forest has the lowest figure of 1.2%,
whilst Slough has the highest with 3.1%.
Source – ONS,
JSA Claimant Counts-Rates and Proportions 2006 (latest
data)
The actual number of claimants of working age population
are as follows:
New information on NVQ levels of the working age
population have been released from the Annual Population
Survey. Four out of five (82.3%) people of working
age in the South East have at least a level one
qualification. The figures indicate that there
are 877,200 people of working age in the South
East that do not have at least an NVQ level one
qualification.
The information shows that in Berkshire:
80.5% of the working age population are qualified
to at least NVQ level one, compared to 82.3%
for the South East.
A slightly higher percentage at NVQ level
2 in Berkshire than for the South East – 68.0%
with at least level 2 in Berkshire compared
to 67.3% at least at level 2 for the South
East
A higher percentage at NVQ level 4 in Berkshire
than for the South East - 33.6% with at least
level 4 in Berkshire compared to 29.5% at least
at level 4 for the South East.
Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey
Jan – Dec
2005 (latest data).
The most recent figures
for the estimated resident population have been
released. The estimated resident
population of an area includes all people who usually
live there, whatever their nationality. Students
are taken to be resident at their term time address.
The population estimates are based on the Census
of Population (2001) and calculated annually – the
previous years’ population is ‘aged
on’ by one year, with births added and deaths
removed. There is also an adjustment for net migration.
This adjustment is the most difficult to estimate
accurately, and can affect some areas with high
migration more than others.
The population of Berkshire
is estimated at 812,200. The population for the
South East is estimated
at 8,164,200 and the United Kingdom estimate topped
60 million for the first time, at 60.2 million.
For more information on the South East estimates
please see Regional
Data
The graphs below show the population estimates
for the local authority districts in Berkshire.
Source – ONS, Mid-year
population estimates June 2005 (latest data)
STRUCTURE OF EMPLOYMENT
The regional employment structure in Berkshire differs
from that of the national economy as a whole in that
80.2% of the working age population in employment
are employed in some form of service industry. This
figure is higher than both the South East figure
of 78.6%, and the GB figure of 76.4%. The graph below
shows that:
23.1%
of the Berkshire working age population in
employment is based in the banking, finance
and insurance industry which is higher than
the South East and Great Britain figures
of 19.0% and 15.9% respectively.
23.6%
of Berkshire’s working age population
in employment is based in the public admin,
health and education sector.
(Source: ONS, NOMIS, Annual
Population Survey, latest data, April 2005-March
2006)
9.5% of the Berkshire
working age population in employment work in
the transport and communication sector, which
is higher than the Great Britain figure of
7.0%.
According to the Office of National Statistics, VAT
registration data is the best official guide to the
number of businesses, and the pattern of business
start-ups and closures across the UK and in each
industry.
In total in Berkshire,
the total stocks of VAT registered businesses
numbered 50,540 (ONS NOMIS)
comprising: 3,570 in Bracknell Forest; 4,460 in
Reading; 3,285 in Slough; 6,940 in West Berkshire;
7,115 in Windsor and Maidenhead and 5,960 in Wokingham. ‘Total
stocks’ provides an indicator of the size
of the business population. Since over 99 per cent
of registered enterprises employ fewer than 50
people, it is also a useful indicator of the small
business population.
The chart below shows the change in VAT registrations
for the year ending 2005 (latest data) for Berkshire
by broad industrial sector. Change in VAT registrations
shows the net change (registrations minus de-registrations
in the calendar year).
The absolute net changes
to VAT registrations in Berkshire are relatively
small in scale. With
the exception of Real Estate, Renting & Business
Activities in Slough, the net increase in VAT registrations
in each Local Authority area was fewer than 50
businesses. Similar to other areas in the South
East, manufacturing displays net de-registration
across Berkshire. The public administration, other
community and social sector also shows a net de-registration.
Wholesale, Retail & Repairs registrations also
look positive in all Local Authority areas.
For more regional data on VAT registrations click
here.
New figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
have been released. The chart below shows gross annual
earnings for full time workers in Berkshire. The figures
have been compared with those of the South East region
and Great Britain as a whole. Apart from Slough (£23,
310) average annual earnings across Berkshire are higher
than Great Britain (£23,707) as a whole. Click
here to visit the website for more information.
Source – ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings,
2006 (latest data)
The chart below shows
that there are disparities between the annual
earnings of full time male and
female workers across Berkshire. All full time
male workers have annual earnings higher than the
national average of £23,707.
Source – ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and
Earnings, 2006 (latest data)
The Annual Business Inquiry
is a business survey that collects employment and
financial information. The information on employee
figures was found to be more accurate than the
Annual Employment Survey.
The ABI is a sample survey. The exercise surveys on average 78,000 reporting
units. The survey form asks for the total number of employee jobs over the whole
business. These jobs are then apportioned over the organisation’s known
sites to generate sub-national data.
The following table provides an indication of the number of employees by industrial
sector in Berkshire.
Industry
Numbers
Agriculture
and Fishing (SIC A,B)
755
Energy
and water (SIC C,E)
4,224
Manufacturing
(SIC D)
46,300
Construction
(SIC F)
15,257
Distribution,
hotels and restaurants (SIC G,H)
116,092
Transport
and communications (SIC I)
39,557
Banking,
finance and insurance, etc (SIC J,K)
132,399
Public
administration, education & health (SIC
L,M,N)
81,578
Other
services (SIC O,P,Q)
21,569
Source: ABI (2005– latest
data) ONS: NOMIS
The distribution
of employment across the sectors in Berkshire and
the South East as a whole is provided
in the chart below.
Source: ABI
(2005– latest data) ONS: NOMIS
While the distribution of employees across industries
in Berkshire is broadly similar to that of the South
East as a whole, Berkshire has a higher proportion
of jobs in Banking, Finance and Insurance than seen
regionally, but a lower proportion of jobs in Public
Administration, Education and Health.
The following chart shows comparative data between
the Local Authorities in Berkshire. The percentages
are a percentage of all employees in all sectors.
Source: ABI
(2005– latest
data) ONS: NOMIS
The
ABI employee data show that the greatest concentrations
proportionately of Manufacturing jobs in Berkshire
are based in Slough and West Berkshire, while
there are very few in Reading.
The Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants Industry is more dominant in Bracknell
than in Berkshire as a whole, while it is less dominant in Wokingham and Reading.
The proportional importance of Banking, Finance and Insurance in the labour markets
of Berkshire varies considerably between districts: being particularly dominant
in Bracknell Forest and Windsor and Maidenhead but much less dominant within
West Berkshire.
While Transport & Communications accounts for less than one in ten jobs across
Berkshire, the proportion of jobs in Slough within this sector is approximately
twice that for Berkshire as a whole.
These wide data are of use for advice to both adults and young people as a broad
descriptor of which sectors offer the most employment in the region.
