Unemployment in Birmingham

[djay]

maybe employers don't want to employ people from such areas? It's worth considering.

[sefton66]

That cant be argued, if someone has the qualifications and experience they wont be overlooked just because they live in a poor area. I think its more that generally the people in these areas either have the wrong attitude towards working or don't have good qualifications or any work experience/bad work experience but there are jobs out there for them.

[djay]

To generalise this would be misleading however it would be interesting to see what employers say, i mean it is not unusual for employers to look at how far away you live from the place of work and if you own a car when deciding a job. I think it might be worth considering.

If you take into account the negative connotations these areas have for the "type of people" that come from that area and consider the human element. Could it not be possible hypothetically for example, two candidates apply for one job, one from Sutton one from lozells, both have the same level experience and performed comparable in the interview with the same qualifications.

However due to the negative stereotype this recruiter has of, people from that area having wrong attitude towards working, are lazy and don't want to work etc, they give the job to the person who lives in Sutton on this flawed belief? I think it is a possibility that this could happen.

[greatmoseley!]

Originally Posted by sefton66

I don't think business Birmingham can be put to blame, A lot of people who work in the city centre and Birmingham area live outside the Birmingham area, If you look at the BBC unemployment tracker graphics they show the other areas within Birmingham and the wider area where people live and commute from are actually below the national average for unemployment. I think its more the attitude towards working in these areas with high unemployment

some examples of the areas in and around Birmingham and their unemployment rates
Stratford 1.5%
Solihull 2.4%
Warwick 2.5%
Warwickshire N 3%
Sutton Coldfield 3%
Bromsgrove 3%
Redditch 4%
Selly Oak 5.5%
Hall Green 6.1%
Edgbaston 6.1%
Northfield 6.4%
Yardley 7.2%

The National Average is actually 8.1%

I do admit the areas with high unemployment are not the most invested in areas but there are jobs there for them and elsewhere. Northfield isn't exactly full of places offering jobs but the unemployment rate is fairly low considering

Sorry but I disagree. Something is terribly wrong when a constituency containing the largest city centre core outside of London is coupled with the highest unemployment in the whole of the UK. If Business Birmingham was correctly assessing the needs of this city, they would be attracting business's which required both skilled/unskilled workforces. Employers are not looking at whether you live in Ladywood or not, it's about whether you have the correct set of skills for the job and it's obvious we do not have a skilled workforce in Birmingham so why are we not attracting business's to match the available workforce?

Manchester has just attracted a chain of call centres to it's city centre in the last 6 months and I just feel we are completely missing these opportunities.

I understand work ethics do contribute to the attitude in these areas but putting it like this, if the jobs were there, I don't think anybody would have a choice.... (not with the current government anyway)

[Erebus555]

Ladywood also has a massive proportion of public sector jobs which are obviously being cut rapidly.

Like I've said before (and in much much longer terms), is that Birmingham's going through a late transition from manually skilled jobs to more service sector-based economic base. Attitudes to work and how to achieve these jobs are going through a massive change - possibly lasting several generations. There are a lot of parents who are still used to going straight into a factory for work and spending their life in that profession. The service sector and the entire economy as a whole now works on the "portfolio worker" - one that builds up a portfolio of skills, making them useful to various aspects of work in various sectors. Birmingham's manufacturing decline has come much later than other major cities which have already gone through this transition or a well into it now.

[sefton66]

Thought this was worth a post, also worth a note that JLR are taking on a record number of apprentices this year of 133, and BMW are taking on 24 at their Hams Hall Engine Plant.

Massive rise in number of apprenticeships in the West Midlands
By Jonathan WalkerFeb 9 2012

Ministers have hailed “a new era for apprenticeships” following a massive increase in the number of people starting courses.

In the West Midlands, 54,290 people began apprenticeships in 2010-11, up from 31,720 the year before – an increase of 71 per cent.

But Labour claimed the Government had “put the apprenticeships brand at risk” by allowing employers to rebrand existing staff training courses as apprenticeships.

The number beginning manufacturing or engineering apprenticeships in the West Midlands rose from 3,400 to 5,740.


But this was dwarfed by the number beginning courses in “health, public services and care” – up from 5,360 to 10,090 in the region.

And the number of people beginning apprenticeships in business, administration and law rose from 10,080 to 17,910.

Business Minister John Hayes said: “This is an unprecedented growth. The number across the country is now the biggest number of apprenticeships in modern history.

“The growth is at all levels and it’s at all age-groups. We think this a new era for apprenticeships.”

But Stephen Twigg, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said: “The Tory-led Government has put the apprenticeships brand at risk by undermining the qualifications that will help you get an apprenticeship, and allowing employers to rebrand short training courses for existing staff as apprenticeships.”

He added: “Too many companies are getting government funding for apprenticeships which don’t take on new employees, and only last a few weeks.”

Colleges, universities and employers have been promoting apprenticeships to mark Apprenticeship Week, from February 6 to 10.

And David Cameron, the Prime Minister, announced the launch of a new £6 million fund to support the development of thousands of new Higher Apprenticeships in sectors including aerospace, energy and renewable technologies.

He also announced that small firms will be offered an incentive of £1,500 to hire their first young apprentices.

This is expected to support up to 40,000 new apprenticeships over the next year.

Mr Cameron said: “I’m delighted to underline our commitment to strengthen our economy by helping employers take on apprentices and ensure that the UK workforce has the skills that businesses need.

Under this Government apprenticeship starts are increasing at a record rate, with improvements across the age range, in all sectors, throughout the country.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/news/w...#ixzz1mCl3sg1s

[sefton66]

Great news for the region

West Midlands leading the private sector recovery - report
by Alun Thorne, Birmingham PostFeb 13 2012

All nine English regions recorded a rise in private sector business activity last month with the West Midlands leading the recovery according to a new report.

The region was helped by a resurgent manufacturing sector, replacing Yorkshire and Humber at the top of the table, Lloyds TSB said, while London and the South East continued to grow after slipping at the end of 2011.

The growth in output was coupled with a pick up in new business in January, especially in the West Midlands and London, following a near-stagnation seen in the last quarter of last year.

The survey comes amid mixed signals for the economy as many forecasts suggest the UK will fall into recession this year, while more recent surveys for January such as industry data for manufacturing and services have been better than expected.


The nine regions which recorded growth are Yorkshire & Humber, East, West Midlands, North West, East Midlands, London, South East, South West and North East.

Andy Youngman, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in Birmingham, said: “While the latest survey showed that firms are moving in the right direction, uncertainty across the Eurozone, which is a key trading area for many UK firms, may be dampening some of the recent optimism seen in the domestic economy. Wider export markets beyond Europe are however, continuing to prove more resilient, and may offer expansion opportunities for companies that are able to successfully access them.

“SME growth and exports are both likely to be key factors in leading the UK economic recovery, and the increased output and employment shown in the latest PMI survey offer an encouraging sign that UK firms are remaining strong in the face of Eurozone fears.

“Whether firms in Birmingham are able to build upon December’s growth in 2012 will depend partly on whether sufficient progress can be made to resolve the euro crisis and whether businesses are able to act to seize opportunities for investment and growth.”

Weaker input price pressures provided some support to businesses in the latest survey period, Lloyds said, largely reflecting lower energy bills and the knock on effects of reduced raw material costs on world markets.

The survey also indicated that private sector firms’ output charges were broadly unchanged in January, suggesting squeezed pricing power amid strong competition for new work.

However, job creation remained muted in the period as margins came under pressure and outstanding workloads continued to fall.

The main exceptions were the West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber, where employment growth remains robust.

At the other end of the scale, London was the only region to see a drop in private sector staffing levels at the start of the year.

Overall, rates of private sector job creation were relatively modest across the English regions in January, and only London saw an outright fall in employment numbers.

Lloyds said anecdotal evidence suggested that jobs growth was driven by stronger workloads in January, but spare capacity and uncertainty about the wider economic outlook continued to act as a drag on staff hiring.

Average prices charged by private sector firms in the English regions were broadly unchanged in January, with survey respondents mostly suggesting that subdued demand had created strong competition for new work and in turn squeezed pricing power.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/birmin...#ixzz1mHPDh35v

[Engels]

Good article on manufacturing in the Midlands from the Economist

http://www.economist.com/node/21547264

Manufacturing industry The Midlandstand

Small manufacturers are surviving, even thriving, in the Midlands

KEVIN WARD shudders when he recalls December 2008. His engineering company, Brown & Holmes of Tamworth, began the month with a pretty full order book. Spooked by the financial crisis, though, the carmakers and aerospace firms that buy his workshop equipment suddenly cut back. The company lived off "scraps of work" throughout 2009. Turnover tumbled by one-third and the company went into loss. Mr Ward was unable to raise the financing needed to buy another firm that was going bust; to make matters worse, his company was put on credit watch, with extra banking charges.

And now look at it. Brown & Holmes's sales recovered strongly, rising from £2.3m ($3.6m) in 2009 to £4.3m in 2010, and have continued to go up since. Along with other Midlands manufacturers, it is thriving despite generally tight credit conditions. The former workshop of the world, which was crushed by the early 1980s recession and the rise of Asia's low-cost manufacturers, is seeing work drift back. In Britain as a whole, some 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past two years. In the Midlands, manufacturing employment has grown slightly.

Weaker sterling and rising wages in China help matters. "Chinese companies used to be 50% cheaper," says Jason Aldridge, managing director of Arrowsmith Engineering, which makes parts for aerospace firms. "Now the difference is only 15%." Andrew Essom, technical sales manager of HT Brigham, a metal-pressing firm, can see work returning from abroad. His firm makes the small metal spoons dispensed by the National Health Service to injecting drug users to keep their habit clean. These had formerly come from a French supplier which had them manufactured in China. But HT Brigham can now undercut the French.

Another reason for the health of small manufacturers is that some industrial giants have rediscovered the virtues of local suppliers. Floods and tsunamis in Asia have underscored the hazards of long-distance supply chains, and there have been worries about quality too. Leading firms in the aerospace and defence industry have set up a support network, Supply Chain 21, to raise standards among domestic suppliers. Drop in on Arrowsmith Engineering in Coventry and you are likely to find one or two Rolls-Royce engineers visiting.

Finally, local firms credit two helpful outfits. One is Made in the Midlands, a business network that supports its 250 member firms by putting them in touch, largely online, to help solve mutual problems and share market intelligence. The network has helped HT Brigham diversify into other new areas, such as stainless-steel pressings used in fuel cells. Mr Essom says social media such as Twitter are invaluable for making new business connections and raising issues with government officials and other business leaders. Another prop is the Manufacturing Advisory Service, run through regional development agencies, which provides expert help to small and medium-sized enterprises. This will survive a culling of agencies by the coalition government.

The small manufacturing firms that have survived and grown in the Midlands cannot match Germany's famous Mittelstand of sturdy family firms that supply the world (and especially China) with products such as machine tools and brakes for railway carriages. The Midlanders' metal goes round the world, too, but usually as a key component in a Rolls-Royce jet engine or in a Land Rover. Nonetheless, the firms have emerged surprisingly nimble and profitable from recession.

Like many businesses, the Midlands manufacturers worry about credit shortages and the state of the world economy. A survey of Britain's small and medium-sized manufacturing firms by the CBI, an employers' group, released on February 6th shows rising pessimism, particularly about the euro zone. Before last Christmas Mr Ward was worried about spending £200,000 on new equipment. The mood, he said, was "nervous again". But he went ahead with the investment

[sefton66]

With the positive news of job creation within Birmingham and surrounding areas over the last few months and talk of job creation on the morrisons thread, I thought id do a comparison of unemployment rates for the various areas of the region as shown in the BBC Unemployment tracker.

Although Birmingham has 3 of the top areas in the country for unemployment we also have some of the lowest unemployment levels for surrounding commuter areas.

National Average is now 8.4% unemployed and the West Midlands contains 5 areas over this average (as of December 2011 latest figures)

Ive done a comaparison list between October and December Figures, to make it easy the areas where unemployment has fell from October to December the December figures are shown in Green, the areas where unemployment has increased over the same period are shown in red and those with no change are black. They are in no order just how I took them from the map. The Areas that are red show they are above National Average.

Ill update it when the latest figures for each month are out


Area.........................Oct %.......Dec %
Ladywood...................12.5%.......12.2%
Hodge Hill...................10.7%......10.7%
Sparkbrook...................9.8%........9.7%
Erdington.....................9.0%........9.0%
Perry Barr.....................8.0%........7.8%
Sutton Coldfield............2.9%........2.9%
Yardley........................7.2%........7.3%
Edgbaston....................6.2%........6.2%
Northfield.....................6.3%........6.4%
Selly Oak......................5.5%........5.4%
Tamworth.....................3.0%........3.2%
Warwickshire N..............2.9%........2.8%
Meriden........................4.9%........5.0%
Coventry NW.................4.5%........4.4%
Rugby..........................2.3%.........2.2%
Warwick.......................2.4%.........2.3%
Stratford......................1.5%.........1.5%
Solihull........................2.3%.........2.3%
Hall Green....................6.2%.........6.1%
Bromsgrove..................3.1%.........2.9%
Redditch......................3.7%.........3.7%
Worcestershire..............2.4%........2.4%
Wyre Forest..................3.6%........3.6%
Halesowen....................5.6%........5.6%
Stourbridge...................4.5%........4.5%
Dudley S.......................5.4%........5.3%
Dudley N.......................6.1%........6.1%
West Brom W................7.9%........7.8%
West Brom E.................7.2%.........7.0%
Aldridge........................4.0%........3.9%
Walsall S......................8.4%........8.3%
Walsall N......................7.4%........7.4%
Wolverhampton SE.........8.9%.........8.9%
Wolverhampton NE.........7.7%.........7.7%
Wolverhampton SW........7.0%.........7.1%
South Staffs..................2.8%.........2.7%

[loadbang]

I'm taking apprenticeship numbers with a pinch of salt. I have been looking at what is on offer. Popular ones are arts related apprenticeships, usually 6-12 months, attain a level two at the end of it. Not quite the 5 years, level 3-4 that were around 10 years ago.

[sefton66]

New figures for January are out, every area has actually seen an increase in unemployment, no surprise given December would have took into count temporary Xmas jobs

Latest figures...

Area.........................Dec %.......Jan %
Ladywood...................12.2%.......12.4%
Hodge Hill...................10.7%......10.8%
Sparkbrook...................9.7%........10.0%
Erdington.....................9.0%........9.3%
Perry Barr.....................7.8%........8.1%
Sutton Coldfield............2.9%........3.0%
Yardley........................7.3%........7.4%
Edgbaston....................6.2%........6.4%
Northfield.....................6.4%........6.4%
Selly Oak......................5.4%........5.6%
Tamworth.....................3.2%........3.4%
Warwickshire N..............2.8%........3.1%
Meriden........................5.0%........5.2%
Coventry NW.................4.4%........4.5%
Rugby..........................2.2%.........2.5%
Warwick.......................2.3%.........2.4%
Stratford......................1.5%.........1.6%
Solihull........................2.3%.........2.4%
Hall Green....................6.1%.........6.2%
Bromsgrove..................2.9%.........3.1%
Redditch......................3.7%.........4.0%
Worcestershire..............2.4%........2.5%
Wyre Forest..................3.6%........3.9%
Halesowen....................5.6%........5.8%
Stourbridge...................4.5%........4.8%
Dudley S.......................5.3%........5.4%
Dudley N.......................6.1%........6.3%
West Brom W................7.8%........8.1%
West Brom E.................7.0%.........7.2%
Aldridge........................3.9%........4.1%
Walsall S......................8.3%........8.6%
Walsall N......................7.4%........7.7%
Wolverhampton SE.........8.9%.........9.1%
Wolverhampton NE.........7.7%.........8.0%
Wolverhampton SW........7.1%.........7.2%
South Staffs..................2.7%.........3.0%

[sefton66]

Slight fall in unemployment in the West Midlands
by Graeme Brown, Birmingham PostMar 14 2012

Months of rising unemployment have finally come to an end in the West Midlands after the jobless figure fell by 1,000 in the last quarter.

The total number of people out of work in the region in the quarter to January stood at 241,000, down from 242,000 the three months before.

The fall in unemployment in the region – which leaves it with a jobless rate of 9.1 per cent – came as the UK-wide figure increased to a near 17-year high of almost 2.7 million.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance increased for the 12th month in a row, up by 7,200 in February to 1.6 million, the worst figure since the end of 2009.

But the number of people in work increased by 9,000 in the quarter to January to 29.1 million, while the 28,000 increase in unemployment was the lowest for almost a year.

Other figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that public sector employment fell by 37,000 in the final quarter of 2011 to just under six million, while the numbers employed in private firms increased by 45,000 to 23 million.

Public sector employment has fallen by 270,000 in the past year following the Government’s spending cuts.

Local government employment fell by 33,000 in the last three months of 2011, central Government by 3,000 and Civil Service by 9,000.

Youth unemployment increased by 16,000 to reach 1.04 million, a jobless rate of 22.5 per cent, while the number of unemployed women jumped by 22,000 to 1.13 million.

Average earnings increased by 1.4 per cent in the year to January, down by 0.5 per cent on the previous month.

In the public sector the figure fell from 1.7 per cent to 1.3 per cent, the lowest since comparable records began in 2001.

The number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job increased by 110,000 to 1.3 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

Part-time employment rose by 60,000 to 6.6 million, while self-employment fell by 52,000 to just over four million.

The unemployment rate is now 8.4 per cent, up by 0.1 per cent from the previous quarter, the highest since the end of 1995.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/birmin...#ixzz1p7XmbAUe

[sefton66]

Breakdown of the monthly figures for the region...

Area.........................Jan %.......Feb %
Ladywood...................12.4%.......12.4%
Hodge Hill...................10.8%......10.7%
Sparkbrook.................10.0%........9.8%
Erdington.....................9.3%........9.3%
Perry Barr.....................8.1%........8.0%
Sutton Coldfield............3.0%........2.9%
Yardley........................7.4%........7.4%
Edgbaston....................6.4%........6.3%
Northfield.....................6.6%........6.6%
Selly Oak......................5.6%........5.7%
Tamworth.....................3.4%........3.5%
Warwickshire N..............3.1%........3.2%
Meriden........................5.2%........5.2%
Coventry NW.................4.5%........4.6%
Rugby..........................2.5%.........2.6%
Warwick.......................2.4%.........2.5%
Stratford......................1.6%.........1.6%
Solihull........................2.4%.........2.5%
Hall Green....................6.2%.........6.2%
Bromsgrove..................3.1%.........3.2%
Redditch......................4.0%.........4.1%
Worcestershire..............2.5%........2.7%
Wyre Forest..................3.9%........4.0%
Halesowen....................5.8%........5.9%
Stourbridge...................4.8%........4.8%
Dudley S.......................5.4%........5.5%
Dudley N.......................6.3%........6.3%
West Brom W................8.1%........8.1%
West Brom E.................7.2%.........7.4%
Aldridge........................4.1%........4.2%
Walsall S.......................8.6%........8.6%
Walsall N.......................7.7%........7.7%
Wolverhampton SE.........9.1%.........9.2%
Wolverhampton NE.........8.0%.........8.3%
Wolverhampton SW........7.2%.........7.3%
South Staffs..................3.0%.........3.0%

[Qoasis777]

Ladywood - the ward with over 200,000 employment placements, thats 41% of all of Birmingham....

Has the highest unemployment.

Truly shocking.

[sefton66]

Thought this was worth a post here...

UK jobless total 'to rise by 100,000 over summer'

Some 100,000 more people will be without a job before the end of the summer, according to a new report.

The IPPR think tank says unemployment may not peak until at least September, and that it could be 18 months before the UK jobless total falls.

North-west and Eastern England, London, and Yorkshire and Humberside will see the highest increases, it predicts.

But it adds that the West Midlands, Northern Ireland and South West will see a job recovery.

.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17649817

[sefton66]

Great news to finally see a fall in unemployment

Unemployment rate drops by 1.2%
Published: 17 April 2012

Unemployment in the West Midlands fell by 3,000 in the three months to February, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that a total of 239,000 people were unemployed in the region between November and February.

The region's unemployment rate was 9.0% and saw a fall of 1.2% during the period. The worst in the UK was the North West which saw the biggest increase in people out of work at 5.9%.

Across the country unemployment fell for the first time in almost a year, leaving 2.65 million people out of work.

The total dipped by 35,000 in the quarter to February, giving a jobless rate of 8.3%.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance increased for the 17th month in a row in March, up by 3,600 to 1.61 million, the smallest monthly rise since last December.

But other figures from the ONS revealed that the number of unemployed women increased by 8,000 in the latest quarter to 1.14 million, the highest figure for almost 25 years.

The number of people out of work for over a year jumped by 26,000 to 883,000, the worst total since 1996.

The figures also showed an 89,000 rise in the number of people working part-time because they could not find full-time jobs, to a total of 1.4 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.

There was a 53,000 increase in the number of people in employment to 29 million, although the figure is 57,000 down on a year ago

http://m.lep.co.uk/news/unemployment...1-2-1-4458930#

[sefton66]

Also to add to the news above, national express is to ad 1700 jobs over the next 3 years in the region
Includes 125 jobs at an "academy" to train drivers
http://www.expressandstar.com/busine...midlands-jobs/

[Brummyboy92]

Oooo, I would love to be a Train Driver, I may take a look closer to the time.

[Brum X]

Originally Posted by Brummyboy92

Oooo, I would love to be a Train Driver, I may take a look closer to the time.

Bus/Coach drivers dude, not train drivers, LOL

[Brummyboy92]

Damn, O I was going by what Sefton said.