PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

Following the last recession, it was young people who bore the brunt of the unemployment crisis that was inevitable following the economic downturn.  Whilst a report from the IMF has recently suggested that the long-term economic damage from the pandemic will not be as severe as that left by the financial crisis more than a decade ago, many believe that young people will still be those most affected by the decline in economic activity. Much of this has to do with the fact that there tends to be more young people employed in those sectors such as wholesale, retail, accommodation and food services that have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, they have experienced the highest drop in working hours of any age group and a massive decline in the vacancies available. As a result, there may well be a longer lasting impact on opportunities in the labour market for young people despite an expected economic recovery. Earlier this month, a report from The Prince’s Trust an...

Earlier this week, we celebrated the successes that women have achieved in every walk of life on International Women’s Day. Whilst there are giant steps being made towards greater gender equality across the world, the latest “ The Women in Work Index 2021 ” examining female participation in work in 33 OECD countries demonstrated both the challenges and, more importantly, the prizes that can be won from closing the gender gap within businesses globally. The good news is that the female labour force participation rate has been increasing since 2011 whilst the gender pay gap and the unemployment rate amongst women has been decreasing.  However, the pace of change is still not enough and it is estimated that, at the current rate, it will take 112 years for women to achieve salary parity with men even though closing the gap would generate £1.4 trillion pounds into OECD economies. Yet there are exemplars that show the rest of the world how to make a difference in this agenda with Iceland...

How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the prospects for workers around the World?  This was the focus of the “ The Future of Jobs Report ” from the World Economic Forum which brings together the views of business leaders with the latest data to create an understanding of the current situation and the future outlook for jobs and skills. A worrying trend for those in work is the finding that, in addition to some of the displacement in the labour market that the pandemic has created over the last eleven months, there are indications that any lost jobs will not be replaced as companies move to accelerate the adoption of automation.  For example, half of the businesses will be increasing the rate of automation of jobs, more than one-quarter of employers expect to temporarily reduce their workforce, and one in five expect to permanently lose employees. This raises the spectre of a jobless recovery that will be very different to previous recessions. However, the good news is that des...

The latest regional labour force survey which came out this week, provides some interesting data on the Welsh economy and on the surface, it would seem that there is only encouraging news this month in terms of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.  First of all, if we examine employment (which consists of employees, self-employed people, unpaid family workers and people on government-supported training and employment programmes), there are now 1.531 million people in employment in Wales, the highest number since records began.  This equates to 203,000 more people in employment than at the height of the 2009 economic recession. And we are performing better than any other part of the UK. Over the year Oct-Dec 2018-2019, the region with the largest increase in the employment rate was Wales at 3.7 per cent, followed by Northern Ireland (1.7 per cent).  As a  result, Wales now has the fourth best employment rate in the UK and has experienced...

Since 1971 global leaders, politicians and intellectuals have gathered every year in the small Swiss town of Davos. Over five days, this annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) brings together around 2,500 participants to discuss the global economy and, more importantly, to look for solutions for the future. This year, one of the main elements of discussion was how the state of employment across the world was changing and how jobs would need to change to deal with this . Whilst the latest unemployment figures released for Wales suggests that the job situation in our economy is improving, the WEF warned that we cannot rest on our laurels and that certain types of employment would be under threat in the near future. For example, current trends in technology could lead to considerable losses in office and administrative roles between 2015-2020 whilst there will be an increase in jobs related to computing, mathematics and engineering. In addition, the WEF suggested ...

As the economy recovers, the UK Coalition Government is looking to the private sector to drive growth and, more importantly, job creation. And the good news is that there are over two million more people now employed in the private sector across the UK since the last general election. That is an increase of 9 per cent over the last four years and there is now a record 25 million people employed by private firms in the UK. By region, the biggest growth has been recorded by Yorkshire and Humberside and London, both with an increase of around 14 per cent. In contrast, the two worst performing regions have been the North West of England and Wales, with a growth of just over six per cent. However, this still means that 60,000 jobs have been created within Welsh businesses since May 2010 and there are now more a million people working for the private sector in Wales, higher than at any other time in the economic history of the nation. Of course, whilst businesses are getting on w...

Last month, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills published a critical report that should be vital reading for businesses and policymakers. “ The Future of Work, Jobs and Skills in 2030 ” analyses key drivers and trends for work and skills in the UK within a global context and how these will change in the years leading up to the the fourth decade of this century. It assesses potential disruptions and innovations, such as automation or computerisation of professional work, de-globalisation and additive manufacturing and, more relevantly for the Welsh Government and its sector-led economic strategy, includes an analysis of seven key sectors of the UK economy including business and professional services, creative and digital, manufacturing, and construction. However, with my colleague Dr Martin Rhisiart of the University of South Wales having applied his expertise in futures studies to the research team, the most relevant and interesting aspect of the report is how it outlin...

Every second Wednesday of every month, the Office for National Statistics releases the official employment and unemployment data for Wales. And every second Wednesday of every month, the usual group of economists and business groups come out with the general consensus that jobs are not being created within the economy thanks to the UK Government’s austerity measures. But if anyone bothered to look carefully at the detailed job statistics, then they actually paint a very different picture. Take employment, for example. One would think from all the doom and gloom that seems to pervade our media that no jobs were being created. Yet, the data clearly show that, since the current UK Government took power back in May 2010, employment in Wales has actually increased by over 35,000, compensating for the fall of 27,000 in those employed during the previous two years. In fact, 68.6 per cent of all working age adults are now in employment in Wales, which is the same proportion as whe...