In the UK as a whole, the numbers of people in work has been rising steadily for a decade and unemployment is at its lowest for a generation. However, unemployment in Leicester is more than twice the national average.

 

Groups that face most difficulty in the labour market include lone parents, ethnic minority groups, people with a disability, and older people of working age. Many of these people would want a job given the appropriate opportunity.

 

One method of helping these groups of people into work is through 'Intermediate Labour Markets', whereby employers provide opportunities for people struggling to get into the job market through a structured programme of training, often in partnership with a local authority or public sector service.

 

 

From the developer's perspective, using local employment can create a market advantage by:

 

 

At a national level major construction employers, the Construction Industry Training Board and the Rethinking Construction Forum have identified major and complex challenges in relation to the construction & buildings workforce. These include skill shortages, an ageing workforce with a decline in recruitment, and health and safety conditions which are the worst within any major industry in the UK. Using local Intermediate Labour Markets will help to increase the skills base of the construction industry.

 

 

According to the government's New Earnings Survey (2003) average earnings in Leicester are around £397 a week, compared to £429 in the East Midlands, and £483 across England as a whole. By employing local workers, wage costs can be kept to a minimum.