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Job Market Information Sections
Future Facts South Yorkshire's Labour Market TodaySouth Yorkshire's labour market has undergone massive changes over the last thirty years. In the 1970s, South Yorkshire's coal, steel and railway engineering industries were booming. As a result, there was full employment and people earned good money. This changed, however, with a downturn in the economy and a reduction in the demand for coal and steel. First steel plants and then collieries closed down with huge losses in jobs. South Yorkshire was particularly vulnerable because it had relied mainly on these industries for its wealth. Today in South Yorkshire, the coal industry has almost disappeared. The steel industry is still important, but new technologies mean that not as many people need to be employed. However, as manufacturing declines, other industries are growing in the region. As has happened in the rest of the country, the service sector has grown in South Yorkshire, and the area now has a very high concentration of customer service/call centres. This growth in the service sector, however, has not yet reached a level where it could replace all the coal, steel and manufacturing jobs that were lost. These new jobs also have very different working patterns and wage rates, compared to the lost coal and steel jobs. |
