Developing a high growth knowledge economy in the West Midlands

Knowledge intensive industries rely on innovation and knowledge to gain competitive advantage and, although the sector has grown rapidly in recent years, the West Midlands has struggled to attract these activities.
Through a state of the region dialogue on the West Midlands’ knowledge economy (PDF, 383kb), the Observatory has identified a range of actions to address this, developed and [...]

Investment in higher level skills needed to kick start the region’s recovery

Investment in higher level skills is vital to kick start the region’s recovery from recession but the proportion of the workforce qualified to degree level or above is well below the national average, particularly in the private sector.
New research (PDF, 258kb) by the West Midlands Regional Observatory shows that overall investment in skills and training [...]

West Midlands rural areas hit particularly hard by recession

The Observatory’s Skills Team are working on an assessment of skills and labour market issues in the rural areas of the West Midlands on behalf of the Regional Skills Partnership and the Rural Affairs Forum.
While we expect to publish in April 2009, we can report now on emerging findings relating to the impact of the recession.
Rural areas [...]

Investment in higher level skills and the knowledge economy

The government’s University Challenge initiative aims to support investment in higher education at a local level in order to:
1: Support the development of a ‘knowledge economy’ by unlocking the talents of local people and providing the skills and knowledge transfer that enables local businesses to grow and to attract new investment to the area.
2: Make [...]

Regional Skills Assessment 2008: key issues for employers

We produce the Regional Skills Assessment each year, providing commentary on the changing labour market in the West Midlands to inform the work of a wide range of organisations. This post highlights key issues for employers arising from our skills assessment work this year.
Over the last five years there has been a significant shift in [...]

Regional Skills Assessment 2008: key issues for individuals and communities

We produce the Regional Skills Assessment each year, providing commentary on the changing labour market to inform the work of a wide range of organisations.
In this article, I’m highlighting key issues for individuals and communities from our skills assessment work in 2008.
There have been significant local and sub-regional variations in skills and labour market trends [...]

State of the Region dialogue on the knowledge economy

The new state of the region process aims to engage with the region’s policy and decision makers on a range of key issues.
One of these is the knowledge economy. While UK demand for higher level skills is mediocre by international standards (with 28% of the working age population qualified to level 4 or above the [...]

Sponsorship opportunities at the WMRO Annual Conference 2008: an update

The sponsorship opportunities available at this year’s annual conference are proving to be very popular. Exhibition stands from Geowise, ESRI UK and Renewal Magazine are confirmed with Renewal magazine also sponsoring the sustainable communities workshop and the Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration at Coventry University (SURGE) inserting flyers into delegate packs. Other companies are set [...]

The role of work placements in graduate retention

The Regional Observatory’s skills team have recently completed a major research project on graduate retention, attraction and employment for the Regional Skills Partnership and the West Midlands Higher Education Association.
One of the key findings is that 40% of graduates leave the region to find employment, especially in higher skilled, higher paying jobs in high value-added [...]