Skills and Economic Challenges in StokeonTrent Skills and

Skills and Economic Challenges in Stoke-on-Trent Skills and Employability Team, Staffordshire County Council

Introduction Provide insight into current and future skills demand supply challenges in Stoke-on-Trent

Recent success in creating new businesses and jobs • 1, 115 additional businesses since 2011 • Business start-ups are lower than the Staffordshire average and lags well behind regional and national averages • However, businesses are less likely to fail • 17, 000 additional jobs since 2011 • Higher than the regional and national averages for rate of jobs growth since 2011

Strong growth in health alongside more balanced growth in service and office based industries • 123, 000 jobs in 2018 • Largest sectors are health (25, 000 jobs), manufacturing (15, 000), retail (12, 000) • Main post-recession growth in health (+5, 000), and wholesale (+2, 500) • Limited declines with a slight impact in the public sector from ensuing austerity and some decline in mining, quarrying & utilities

Unemployment, economic inactivity and youth unemployment all remain an issue

Higher than average growth in the economy, driven mainly by health & social care, arts & entertainment, wholesale & retail and manufacturing WM = 43. 4% UK = 35. 5% Staffs = 33. 4%

Stoke-on-Trent has lower than average jobs in higher occupations • A third (33%) of jobs in Stoke-on. Trent were in the top 3 occupation groups in 2019, well below the Staffordshire (50%) and national (48%) averages

Both resident and workplace earnings in Stoke-on-Trent are well below the regional and national averages • Faster growth than nationally in resident earnings and workplace earnings since the recession but still well below the regional and national averages Resident Earnings Workplace Earnings

Job Vacancies in Stoke-on-Trent • Over 31, 200 job vacancies over the last year (July 2019 -June 2020) • Median Advertised Salary = £ 26. 1 K • Main occupations in demand include:

Hard Skills in Demand in Stoke-on-Trent Hard Skills most requested over the last year (July 2019 -June 2020)

Common Skills in Demand in Stoke-on-Trent Common Skills most requested over the last year (July 2019 -June 2020)

Raising productivity remains one of our biggest challenges • GVA per job filled in Stoke-on-Trent stood at £ 44, 089 in 2018 compared to the UK average of £ 56, 387 – more than a fifth less productive • Stoke-on-Trent ranked 10 th out of 14 for GVA per job filled in WM • Stoke-on-Trent has an important role to play in improving overall productivity in the SSLEP area, and can build on recent success in bringing more higher skilled and higher value jobs to the local area 56, 387 88. 7 82. 6 78. 2

Improving adult skill levels however remains lower than the Staffordshire and national averages