Labour Market Trends on the Island of Ireland Aideen McGinley, DEL Rody Molloy, FÁS North-South Roundtable Group Cork, 22 February 2006

Slide 2 Agenda 1.The North/South labour market – recent trends, similarities, differences 2.Key Challenges 3.Joint Work on Information Sources Aideen McGinley 4.Migration 5.FÁS activities 6.Cross-border Initiatives Rody Molloy

Slide 3 Employment Growth in Ireland, Employment in RoI up by 51% ; NI +17% 2.Growth in South fuelled by rise in female employment (+70%), though male employment also rose sharply (+40%) 3.In NI, growth more gender balanced (females, +19%; males, +16%) 4.Part-time employment has gown more quickly than full-time employment both North and South

Slide 4 Employment Growth by Sector,

Slide 5 Unemployment Rates

Slide 6 North-South Labour Markets - Similarities 1.Young population structures 2.Similar employment rates: both around 65-67% (Eurostat definition) 3.Low unemployment: % 4.Similar Inactivity Rtes (28-30%) 5.Similar employment patterns – eg male/female; full- time/part-time 6.Some similarities in industrial structure

Slide 7 Employment Structures

Slide 8 Employment Breakdown by Industry Sector

Slide 9 Reasons for Economic Inactivity

Slide 10 Key Challenges 1.Upskilling the Workforce 2.Increasing Employment

Slide 11 Upskilling the Workforce 1.Skills deficits and gaps both North and South 2.Too many people at low skill levels including poor literacy and numeracy 3.Future growth is in high skills, not low skills

Slide 12 Increasing Employment 1.Employment needs to rise to meet Lisbon goals 2.Those at the margins who we are hoping to re-engage will be likely to have skills deficits as well as other barriers 3.Co-ordinated approach needed both within Government and with key partners including employers

Slide 13 DELs Skills Strategy Target Groups New entrants to the labour force; Those already in the workforce; and Those who are inactive but could be re-engaged.

Slide 14 Developing Information Sources Good information is key to the development of policy and delivery of services. Cross-border work includes Harmonization of skills monitoring surveys Developing a North-South skills map