Looking ahead - future trends

• Part-time, shift and week-end working. Other types of ‘flexible working’ such as home working, job sharing and working from home are also becoming more popular. Flexible working can have advantages for many workers - it means they can more easily manage childcare and other commitments.  
• Temporary or fixed-term contracts. Many jobs are now advertised as being for a set length of time rather then being permanent. This allows employers to take people on during their busy periods and helps them to save on staff costs.
• The number of employers who want “multi-skilled workers”. This gives employers more flexibility as workers who can be switched between different task and roles.
• Employer’s demand for high level skills. To succeed companies require highest quality and most competitive products. This can only be provided by a highly skilled workforce.
• The number of times people change their job (or career) during their working life. You’ll probably use the skills you’ve learned in one job to change your career several times.
• New types of jobs. The job you start doing at 21 may have totally changed by the time you reach 30.   The job you end up doing at 35 may not even exist yet!

With decreases in…

• The number of low skilled and unskilled jobs available. Some of these will be moved to countries where wages and other outgoings are lower than in this country. In other cases technology will be introduced which replaces the need for workers.
• Jobs that involve making or producing things. Jobs will exist but are often for the most highly skilled people, such as highly skilled engineers. But there will be more jobs in providing services - from health and care to education, shopping and leisure.

You can find lots of  really useful, interactive information on on the labour market at www.careersbox.co.uk and www.icould.com