๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐)
Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can’t get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who “can’t find work?”
The problem isn’t lack of jobs. It’s that we fundamentally misunderstand how labour markets actually work.
โ We count unemployed people and job vacancies, then wonder why they don’t connect
โ We design standardised programmes for complex individual circumstances
โ We fund short-term interventions expecting long-term transformation
โ We create employer “consultation” instead of genuine partnership
**๐ฆ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ-๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐:**
๐ญ. **๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐** – Invest disproportionately in understanding local dynamics before designing programmes. Most failures start with wrong assumptions about what the actual problems are.
๐ฎ. **๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ** – Relationship-based support with dedicated advisers outperforms standardised group sessions every time. Yes, it costs more per person. Yes, it delivers better value.
๐ฏ. **๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ-๐๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป** – Move beyond consultation to authentic partnership where employers help design, deliver, and hire from programmes. Sector partnerships work; generic provision doesn’t.
๐ฐ. **๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐ถ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐** – Employment, skills, health, housing, transport, childcare. Single-dimension interventions fail because barriers come in clusters.
๐ฑ. **๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐** – Meaningful change requires sustained timeframes. Stop promising rapid transformation when evidence shows it takes years to build effective systems.
๐ฒ. **๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐** – Care, retail, hospitality employ far more people than your flagship growth sectors. Job quality in foundational sectors affects more lives than high-tech unicorns.
๐ณ. **๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐** – Collect data that actually influences resource allocation, not impressive reports that gather dust.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ? ๐๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ.
I’ve written a comprehensive chapter on this in my upcoming Handbook of Local and Regional Economic Development. It includes practical frameworks and international case studies and I’ve also created some workbooks and tools for diagnosing what’s actually happening in your labour market.
๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ? Get it here.
#EconomicDevelopment #LabourMarket #EvidenceBasedPolicy #LocalGovernment #SkillsDevelopment #WorkforceDevelopment
