LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION (LMI) IN

CAREER GUIDANCE:PIVOTAL OR PERIPHERAL?

Jenny BimroseInstitute for Employment Research

University of Warwick

Jenny.bimrose@warwick.ac.uk

SHIFTING CONTEXT

IMPLICATIONSCURRENT STATUS

LMI: Pivotal or Peripheral?

Labour Markets: dynamic

Supply Demand

Labour Markets: dual processes

Exchange: goods & services

Labour markets: equilibrium

Labour Markets: disequilibrium

Information about Labour Markets

LMI

What is it?

What role does it play?

Labour Market InformationDATA about: general employment trends

(i.e. unemployment rates; skills gaps; future demand)

the structure of the labour market (i.e. what jobs exist, how many, which sectors)

the way the labour market functions (i.e. how people get into jobs & move between employers)

focusing on equality and diversity (i.e. which individuals are employed in different sectors, at what levels/pay?)

Labour Market Information the interaction between labour demand &

supply (i.e. mismatches – unemployment, skill shortages)

national, regional and local labour market variations (i.e. size of workforce, prominent sectors, etc.)

progression routes (i.e. career structure, earnings, transferability of skills, etc.)

LM Information• Original data from range of

sourcesLM Intelligence• Interpretation of LM Information

Information v. Intelligence

CLIENT SOCIETY

Role of LMI in Career Guidance?

Shifting context

Impact on

practice

LMI: Pivotal or Peripheral?

• Integration

• CPD

ICT

• Resources• Focus

Policy• Client• Framewor

kPractic

e

LMI: Interplay of factors

Because of this complexity:

Role of LMI in career guidance is variable across countries

Even within countries, variations exist across different operational contexts

LMI: Pivotal or Peripheral?

Scotland Wales

NI England

LMI

LMI: Country variations

Increasing competitiveness (The Scottish Government, 2011):

Career management skills are central Means enabling individuals to ‘understand

how the labour market works’, through: My World of Work (website) Scottish Labour Market Information & Intelligence

Framework – plan to identify current provision, create common understanding & ensure needs met (Skills Development Scotland, 2012)

LMI: Scotland

The Employability & Skills Division of the Dept. for Educn. & Skills within the Welsh Government:

Tasked to communicate intelligent & analysed LM Intelligence to better align supply/demand Major review – with services moving into a new

stage of web-development LMI (information & intelligence) forms key part of

this strategy

LMI: Wales

New career strategy noted the importance of access to LMI for users of the Careers Service (DEL & DE, 2011).

Website comprises job profiles, links to employer bodies, JobCentre Online NI, links to vacancies locally & across Europe

Access to LMI – enables improved understanding of education & employment opportunities

LMI: Northern Ireland

LMI is part of modernising the delivery of services, with a focus around the skills agenda:

Jobcentre Plus - Transforming Labour Market Services (TLMS)

National Careers Service website, with telephone guidance services – LMI central

LMI 4 All – UKCES commissioned the development of a data tool for careers

England: LMI

‘The knowledge and application of CLMI (career and labour market information) is a core part of a career professional’s competencies and central to ensuring young people and adults are provided

with a high-quality service’.

Reference: Careers Profession Task Force (2010). Towards a strong careers profession: An independent report to the Department for Education. London: Department for Education.

LMI: Practice Implications

Building skills and confidenceusing labour market information in practice

LMI LEARNING MODULE

Aim:To support the learning of career professionals to increase their effectiveness in using LMI in practice

Explores: Why we need LMI in careers Sources of LMI – locating

and evaluating sources How to use LMI effectively Key trends and what it

means for careers guidance

www.warwick.ac.uk/go/ngrf/lmimodule

For the following OCR units:

OCR Level 4 Diploma in Career Information and Advice (04512)◦ Level 4 Unit 11 Source, evaluate and use LMI with clients◦ Level 4 Unit 16 Obtain and organise career-related

information to support clients OCR Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance

and Development (10215)◦ Level 6 Unit 6 Use career and LMI with clients◦ Level 6 Unit 15 Source, evaluate and use labour market

intelligence with clients

OCR endorsement

LMI: Role in decision-making

Traditionally, career decision-making has been regarded as

a rational, linear process:

Information gathering Analysis Making a choice

i.e. the ‘matching approach’ to guidance

Matching at the heart?Matching assumes a degree of stability in the labour market:

‘Trying to place an evolvingperson into the

changing work environment ... is like trying to hit a butterfly with a

boomerang’ (p.263)

Ref: Mitchell, L.K. & Krumboltz, J.D. (1996) ‘Krumboltz’s learning theory of career choice and counseling’, in Brown, D., Brooks, L. & Associates (Eds) Career Choice and Development (3rd Ed), San Francisco, California, Jossey Bass.

Alternatives to matchingRange from: Unmediated: give clients/students direct

access to high quality LMI Developmental: LMI adapted for different

stages Empowerment: encourage clients/students to use LMI to support a broader process of personal growth Learning: use LMI for specific purposes

(e.g. challenge misconceptions)

Most LMI research focuses on usability of products: Readability; Accuracy of information; Ease of access; Amount of use; Focused on students, not adults

Ref: Savard, G. & Michaud, M. (2005). The Impact of LMI on the Career Decision-Making Process: Literature Review. FLMM

LMI: research evidence?

Unanswered questions:

How do individual clients use LMI?

To what extent does assistance by a service provider enhance the effective use of LMI by individuals?

To what extent is independent self-help a sufficient process for clients to use LMI effectively?

LMI: research evidence

Research evidence:

access to expert knowledge & information was regarded as critical to effective career guidance (Bimrose et al., 2008);

necessary for career professionals to support information seeking behaviour (Vilhjálmsdóttir et al., 2011);

LMI: career practice

Tailored LMI embedded in a learning process most powerful

LMI appropriate for client’s specific need (not general LMI) appears to support engagement & action

Structure & timelines appear to motivate action and create a sense of progress

Giving clients hands-on tools appears to be best motivator

For many, a little (or no) professional support is adequate

(Ref: Hiebert, B. (2010) Assessing the Impact of LMI: Preliminary Results of Phase Two (Field Tests). CRWG)

LMI: Clients

Classification of occupations Insufficient detail for some occupations Lack of standardisation of data Inconsistent data Insufficient sample sizes Inability to disaggregate to the required

level Skewed vacancy data Local LMI (expertise in building employer

networks needs to be re-established)

LMI: challenges

Pivotal!

Key differentiator:

makes career guidance distinctfrom other helpingprofessions

LMI: Pivotal or Peripheral?