Labour Market Information (LMI) can help you to navigate your way through the mysterious, confusing and wonderful world of work. Let’s face it, unless you plan on winning Lotto you’ve got to do something! You can use LMI to understand things like:
- pathways into and between jobs
- jobs and skills in demand
- likely pay and conditions
- characteristics of the workforce
Let’s analyse labour market information
Use Labour Market Information (LMI) as a reality check
It’s great to dream big and to aim high (don’t stop that!). But the more you know about different occupation options, the better. LMI can be a reality check, helping you to find answers to questions like:
Will I need to move?
You can research job vacancy trends where you live and look at the location of workers in the job.
Will I need to do further study?
Consider the qualifications of workers in the job you’re interested in. If most people have a uni Degree, then you may also need one to improve your job prospects. That might mean doing some extra study.
Will I be able to earn enough money?
Look at the average earnings for workers in the job. Remember that you might be on a lower salary when starting out (but that’s OK, you’re learning the job).
Will I be able to find the hours I want to work?
You might want to work full-time or even part-time hours. LMI can tell you things like how many people work full-time, shift work, overtime and on weekends (it’s handy to know this stuff upfront).
Will it be hard to get a job?
One of the most obvious, but most difficult questions to answer is “Will it be hard to get a job?”. There’s also another question ‘How much do you want one? (only you can answer that).
When you drill down into the labour market analysis, you can find all sorts of useful info:
Is this a large or small employing occupation?
There may be more job opportunities in large employing occupations. But then it can still be tricky to find work if there’s a large number of applicants competing for jobs.
Has the number of workers been growing or falling?
If the number of workers has been growing, then this might show that there’ll be demand for workers. That’s demand now and in the future, this is a great situation by the way.
How does the unemployment rate compare to other occupations?
If the unemployment rate is high in a certain occupations, then there may be lots of workers competing for a limited number of positions (this can make it tough).
Remember that job prospects are influenced by two factors. The first is the demand for workers. The second is the supply of suitable applicants competing for jobs.
You’ll find some cool online resources you can use to access Labour Market Analysis (LMI). The Australian government publishes a heap of labour market data and insights. You can find this on the Job Outlook website . Also try Labour Market Information Portal. You can use these resources to stay updated on jobs and sectors in demand. Especially as the labour market continues to change in response to COVID-19.
Key Takeaway
With change comes opportunities! Labour market conditions can change quickly. Even the experts find it hard to predict what the jobs market will look like in the future. Like anything though, the harder you work at something the luckier you’ll get.