Equal Access To Employment In Glasgow

Current Situation

Since 1995 Glasgow has enjoyed the fastest growth in jobs in the UK with more than 60,000 jobs created, resulting in 40,000 Glasgow residents finding employment. Many of these jobs have come from regeneration initiatives covering retail development, financial services, tourism and academia, as well as building both hard and virtual infrastructure.

Building on the success of Clyde Waterfront, the Financial Services District, Pacific Quay and the Digital Media Campus and the Commonwealth Games bid.

At the same time the extension of the M74 and the EastEnd Regeneration Route will enable the redevelopment of the East of the City creating a new commercial gateway along the River Clyde.

Despite these huge advances, Glasgow has, at 66%, considerably lower average employment rates than Scotland and the UK, a low level employment among minority ethnic groups at 56%; almost 60,000 residents of working age on some form of incapacity benefit, 5000 young people who are not in employment, education or training.

The challenge of the City Strategy is to galvanise the imagination, energy and resources of the City Strategy Partners and delivery organisations to deliver a step change in employability. Strong growth in labour demand is currently projected across a range of sectors and occupations for Scotland’s labour market as a whole. In Glasgow the majority of job openings forecast in the next ten years are in replacement vacancies for craft, clerical and lower skilled manual positions. The consensus labour market view of the future suggests an increasing polarisation in qualification terms, with level 2 qualifications becoming the entry level threshold for many jobs.

Nevertheless it is anticipated that softer skills will remain important as these are frequently cited by employers with recruitment difficulties and skill gaps in their current workforce.

It is therefore essential that any City Strategy addresses the skill levels of the resident population to meet the ambitious targets and forecast demand.

Most activity is focused on getting people into work, and relatively little on helping people get engaged in the first place, or on helping people stay and progress in work. Moreover funding streams and services are not sufficiently joined up to promote the flow of individuals into work. Glasgow needs to use its existing resources better and to design delivery systems that promote more employment outcomes.