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Employment, Education and Skills in Birmingham

Published: June 2000

This topic report, published in July 2000 considers the acquisition of human capital and levels of qualification and skill in Birmingham's current and future resident work force.

Some of the conclusions drawn from the report suggest that:

• Steady improvement has occurred in the development of Birmingham's skills and qualifications base over recent years, but the city continues to lag some way behind many areas of the West Midlands and the rest of the UK. In the early years, when human capital is most likely to be formed, unevenness and inequality affects certain groups in the city. But access to learning opportunities is improving for youngsters previously excluded. There are still problems, however, affecting the achievement levels of African Caribbean and Pakistani boys.
• Fewer young people in the city, than elsewhere in the region, enter Further and Higher Education straight from school.
• Around 35% of Birmingham's young people now go to university with many remaining in the city to study. But there is still debate, in the mainstream and academic press, about the standard of entrants to higher education. Top employers have echoed this concern and many local firms feel graduate standards have fallen appreciably.
• 17% of respondents to the 1998 Household Survey for Birmingham stated that they were studying for a qualification. This represents one of the highest regional rates and betters the rate for the West Midlands as a whole.
• Levels of unemployment remain higher in Birmingham than in other parts of the region and there is a proven correlation between the lack of qualification of the economically active in the city and these high levels of unemployment. Two issues need to be addressed; to improve qualification levels at the lower achievement end of the workforce and to improve the work readiness of, otherwise, well qualified graduates.
• There is an dichotomy between the high qualified in the city and the non-qualified. For example in 1998 46% of local employees were qualified to NVQ Level 3 (only Solihull 49% and Coventry and Warwickshire 47% have a better qualified work force at this level of qualification) At higher levels of qualification, NVQ 4 and above, Birmingham has the best qualified resident labour force apart from Solihull (but note that many Solihull residents work in Birmingham). In 1998 almost 30% of employees were qualified to degree or higher degree level (Solihull 31%).
• But Birmingham still has a large proportion of workers who have no qualification. In 1998 almost 24% of employed residents in the city had no qualification at all. (Only Sandwell and Walsall 33%, Dudley 29%, Wolverhampton 25% have higher).
• Levels of basic and key skills are low, in the city, compared to other areas. Addressing this issue is an imperative if Birmingham is to catch up will the more competitive cities of the UK and Europe.
• Investment in Lifelong Learning in the city remains steady but low. The 1998 Household Survey reveals that, in line with the generally unequal distribution of life chances, distribution of training and learning opportunities tend to favour the already well trained and qualified. Thus current training processes appear to reinforce division in the labour market rather than improve access for poorly qualified or excluded groups.
• It is estimated that at least 50% of Birmingham's workforce is employed by a company or organisation recognised as an Investor in People.
• Globalisation and the emphasis on economic value added are driving skill levels upwards whilst capital / labour substitution increase the pressure on firms to de-skill and downsize in an attempt to stay competitive. The outcomes of these processes locally result in an even more segmented labour market.