Labour Market Information

Labour Market Information (LMI) is information about jobs. Using LMI in your career planning can help people make informed, appropriate and achievable career choices. It can help you determine which occupations suit your aptitudes and interests and to identify where the jobs are.

Labour Market Information (LMI)

Labour Market information is aimed at, parents, teachers, lecturers, advisers, students, job changers and job seekers:

skills and entry requirements
options with your subjects/qualifications
how easy/difficult it is to enter an occupation
the size and nature of industries within Northern Ireland
employment trends
occupational areas
vacancies that employers find hard to fill
where vacancies are advertised

What are the future job opportunities in Northern Ireland?

The need to use LMI is extremely important, particularly in light of the current economic situation.

There will be job opportunities across all occupational areas in Northern Ireland and particular growth is expected in occupations relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). This includes Computer Science and creative industries.

Participation in enrichment activities (for example,community link projects, sport, drama) is increasingly important to gain access to further and higher education as well as employment.

What do STEM related areas include?

environmental engineering
agri-food
computer science
renewable energy
advanced engineering
biomedical science

It is hoped that high tech exporting companies will lead in the growth of the Northern Ireland economy. Therefore a greater emphasis will be placed on sector specific skills and qualifications.

Northern Ireland Overview

Northern Ireland (NI) has changed considerably since 2008. Over 35,000 jobs have been lost. The construction industry was hit hard as well as financial services, the legal and real estate industries.

Unemployment rose from 4 per cent in 2008 to 7 per cent in 2010 while the number of Jobseekers increased from 29,000 in 2007 to 58,000 in 2010.

Unemployment has risen more sharply in NI over the past year 2010/11 than in the UK as a whole or indeed in other UK countries/regions.

NI has persistently high levels of economic inactivity (28.5 per cent) which is much higher than in the UK as a whole (23.2 per cent) and higher than any other UK country or region.