LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION (LMI) IN
CAREER GUIDANCE:PIVOTAL OR PERIPHERAL?
Jenny BimroseInstitute for Employment Research
University of Warwick
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?