Understanding Greater Manchester’s evolving job market

Labour Market Information and Sector Insights can help us gain a clear understanding of what makes and shapes a region’s economic landscape.

By analysing trends in Greater Manchester (GM), we can better identify how policies and initiatives support economic growth and employment in the region.

The data and information included in this article are drawn from the Seasonal Sector Insights Pack. This quarterly product is developed using insights from the GM Labour Market Insights Unit, which comprises colleagues from across GMCA, GM Chamber of Commerce, the Business Growth Hub, and MIDAS. The pack also features analysis of vacancy data drawn from tools that track online job postings like Lightcast. Further details and information on the skills gaps across Greater Manchester can be found here.

Headlines

• While many city regions have similar workforce profiles, GM has a particularly high concentration of Financial and Professional Services workers
• The public sector employs just over 1 in 3 workers in GM, across health, education, emergency services, and local government
• Around 1 in 5 workers in GM are employed on a part-time basis
• Just under half of GM’s population are employed or self-employed
• Increases in entry level roles like office assistants and customer service made them 2nd / 3rd most in demand in the 12 months to May 2024
• Teaching Assistant was the top advertised role over the 12 months to May 2024

Sector Insights

Construction

A Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) report estimated that an additional 251,500 construction workers per year will be needed in the UK to meet output by 2028. 23,850 of these will be in the North West.

A steady increase in future demand for construction jobs is also expected. Estimates are for 11,000 new jobs in GM by 2027 – in ‘traditional’ skill sets and trades as well as new and emerging methods and technologies around low carbon construction.

Manchester City Centre, Bolton, Stockport and Salford have the highest number of construction vacancies.

Transport

The average age of workers in transport is around 45 years old meaning attrition and replacement demand are significant factors in all areas of the sector.

Some estimates state that 5,000 apprentices per annum will be needed to close the skills gap, effectively doubling the current average level.

Continued expansion of the Bus and Tram Bee Network will undoubtedly create new jobs and provide multiple upskilling opportunities for GM residents, but may place further strain on a sector with an ageing workforce.

Roles are concentrated in Manchester city centre, with employers in other areas like Stockport, Bolton, and Oldham advertising a relatively high number of vacancies.

Logistics

Logistics unlocks many career opportunities, with roles ranging from drivers and mechanics to robotics and technology developers.

Entry level roles remain accessible for those without a university degree, but still offer highly competitive salaries and some of the best opportunities for progression.

Vacancies have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels but do remain above those of the rest of the economy. Shortages have persisted in the sector for several roles – particularly maintenance and technical roles.

Businesses report a high demand for Mechanics, Transport Planners, Logistics Administrators, Transport Managers and Transport Co-ordinators. There is consistent high demand and skills shortages in the infrastructure around driving & transport operation roles.

Roles are concentrated in Manchester city centre, with employers in other areas like Stockport, Bolton, and Oldham advertising a relatively high number of vacancies.

Creative, Culture, and Sport

The workforce in Culture, Creative, and Sport workplaces is younger than most, with many staff university-educated.

Workers are more likely to be self-employed than the UK average. A third of employers report skills gaps amongst staff and challenges recruiting the skills they need from existing talent pool.

Poor perceptions of the sector create challenges in attracting candidates; the sector is known for unsociable hours, low pay, and demanding workloads.

Due to the nature of the work, arts and culture generates a substantial number of freelance opportunities across a range of artistic, creative, and technical roles.

Most creative and cultural roles are found in the city centre, but sport roles are widespread across clubs, leisure centres, and sports facilities across GM.

Retail and Hospitality

The retail sector covers all aspects of high-street and eCommerce shopping. While increasing online shopping and declining attendance at venues like cinemas have hurt the sector, it remains a major employer.

Nearly 1 in 6 workers in GM are employed in retail, wholesale, and hospitality occupations – around 200,000 people.

Roles are heavily concentrated in Manchester City Centre and regional town centres, with other hubs like the Trafford Centre and Retail Parks seeing many opportunities.

Engineering & Manufacturing

Manufacturing & Engineering is an important sector for the Greater Manchester economy employing around 115,000 people, making up around 8-9% of the GM workforce.

With a focus on food and drink, component manufacturing and electronics, manufacturing in GM sees a wide range of employers and diverse skills needs.

As an innovative sector, commercialisation is one of the skills lacking in many early-stage manufacturing businesses. Understanding potential, writing growth cases, and knowing where and how to access finance is critical.

While there is a sizeable concentration of other businesses in the city centre, manufacturing firms are spread across GM. Wigan, Rochdale, Stockport, and Tameside all have large numbers of manufacturing firms.

Financial, Business, and Professional Services

GM is seen as a centre of finance and professional services, though remains behind London in terms of workers and firms. Large concentrations of insurance, corporate finance, legal, and banking all drive the sector in GM.

The trends which started during the pandemic have persisted through 2023. Many employers reacted quickly to working from home and have remained hybrid. 77% of financial services firms reported a higher proportion of staff working from home in 2023 than the 12 months pre-pandemic – higher than all other sectors.

Most roles in financial services like insurance, wealth management and private equity advertised in the sector are in Manchester city centre, but each area of GM has some accountancy and legal firms.

Digital / Tech

After a surge in demand over the course of the pandemic, demand in the digital/tech sector is dropping. Job adverts in digital roles peaked in May 2022 at just under 8,000 and have since dropped back in May 2024 to just over 2,000.

Despite this, Software Development roles remain the 4th most advertised job from March to May 2024.

The need for digital experts to implement digital solutions in the public sector is rising – increasing digitisation of the health service and emergency services are all driving the need for basic digital skills.

Leadership & Management is a consistent gap amongst employers, linked to the speed of digital transformation in traditionally “non-digital” sectors.

Digital specialists needed in wider sectors include data analysis, digital marketing, digital finance, cyber and information security. Most roles are in Manchester and Salford, but many firms now need in-house digital experts.

Health and Social Care

Health and Social Care (HSC) remains the largest sector in GM by workforce and must continue to grow to keep up with increasing demand on services.

The sector directly employs over 200,000 people, nearly 1 in 6 in GM while hundreds of thousands more residents take up roles as unpaid carers and volunteers.

There are over 350 different job roles across the HSC sector although it’s felt that awareness of many of these is low.

There have been well over 60,000 job vacancies posted in the sector over the 12 months to May 2024, with nursing, social workers, and carers featuring as the top advertised professions across most areas of GM.

Many HSC settings have an ageing workforce with concerns about how some of this knowledge will be replaced.

Education

The Education sector is a huge employer within Greater Manchester with around 120,000 people working directly in education.

In the 12 months to May 2024, 1 in 10 job roles advertised in GM were somewhere within the Education sector, a total of 47,125 job adverts.

Teaching Assistant remains the most advertised role in GM in 8 out of our 10 localities. Its thought that turnover for this position is higher in secondary (rather than primary) education.

Within FE, those able to teach STEM subjects and modern foreign languages are particularly in demand throughout schooling.

Emergency Services

Almost 20,000 people work for the GM emergency services. There is good awareness amongst young people about police officer, paramedic and firefighter roles and these score highly as popular career choices.

There are clear pathways, well established technical routes, high numbers of applicants and an ambition to make each service more representative of the communities they serve.

Roles are concentrated around police stations, ambulance departments, and fire stations – Manchester, Salford, Stockport, and Bolton see higher demand than other areas. Private Security roles are largely concentrated in the city centre around venues.

Green Economy

Perceptions of careers in the Green Economy are generally outdated, with many still referring to environment-linked jobs as traditional “green” career pathways rather than the technical roles that will contribute most to the transition.

Across the Green Economy there are 5 key areas which will see significant change:

• Buildings – as gas is replaced with electricity, all buildings will need retrofitting to install insulation, power generation, and low-carbon heat
• Transport – both public and private transport are becoming increasingly electrified, with the shift to electric cars and electrification of rail
• Energy – with increased electrification, the power network will need additional upgrades and linkage with new renewables generation
• Waste and recycling – disposal, recycling, and reuse of materials and waste in an efficient and environmental way
• Natural environment – management of nature for net zero and biodiversity objectives will be increasingly important

Roles in the Green Economy are fairly well spread across GM – transport roles concentrate in the city centre but roles relating to buildings and energy are broadly distributed.

These insights reveal a dynamic and evolving job market in GM. A strategic focus on key growth sectors combined with a commitment to sustainability, skills development, and infrastructure enhancement will ensure GM remains an economically vibrant region in which to live and work.