Northern Ireland
Blue collar employment
Key points
- Between 1998 and 2008, the total number of jobs in Northern Ireland grew by 20%, or 130,000 jobs. This was a faster rate of growth than in any Great Britain region apart from Wales.
- Over that period, all Great Britain regions apart from London lost jobs in manufacturing, construction and production industries. By contrast, the total number of jobs in these sectors in Northern Ireland remained unchanged.
- Looking at the change of jobs within the manufacturing,
construction and production industry sectors in more detail, manufacturing
jobs fell by around 20,000, to 95,000. By contrast, the number of jobs in
construction grew by around 25,000, to 75,000.
Besides increasing the proportion of jobs in this group that are in construction (from a quarter in 1998 to a third in 2008), this also represents a shift away from employment (overwhelmingly predominant in manufacturing and production industries), towards self-employment (two-fifths of all jobs in construction). - The main increase in jobs in Northern Ireland over this period was in private sector services, equivalent to 15% of all jobs a decade ago. This is a higher proportional increase than in any of the Great Britain regions. It also saw an increase in public and voluntary sector jobs, equivalent to 6% of all jobs a decade ago, a lower proportional increase than in most of the Great Britain regions.
- Despite the changes over the last decade, Northern Ireland still has 25% of its jobs in manufacturing, construction and other production industries. This is a higher proportion than in most of the Great Britain regions. It also has a large public and voluntary sector - at 35% it accounts for more jobs in Northern Ireland than in most of the Great Britain regions. The remaining 40% of jobs are in private sector services, and this proportion is lower than in any of the Great Britain regions.
- Over the period 1998 to 2008, the number of jobs done by both men and women in Northern Ireland increased in both full- and part-time work.
- The biggest absolute increase has been in male full-time jobs, up from 320,000 to 370,000. The biggest proportional increase, however, has been in part-time jobs, up by 25% to 260,000. Female full-time jobs also grew, at a similar rate to male full-time jobs. Because of this, there are now almost as many female part-time jobs in Northern Ireland as there are female full-time ones.
- Many male jobs are in sectors where total employment has not been growing. In particular, 45% of male full-time jobs are in production, construction and manufacturing, compared to 10% of female full-time jobs and less than 10% of part-time jobs.
- By contrast, more than half of female full-time jobs are in the public sector. Nearly half of all part-time jobs are also in the public sector. By contrast, only a fifth of male jobs are in that sector.
- Women hold two-thirds or more of all jobs in the personal services sector, administrative and retail and sales and customer service. Both professional and elementary jobs are divided almost equally between women and men. Around a third of management jobs are held by women. Women hold a tenth or fewer of the jobs in the process, plant and machine operative sector and in skilled trades.
Graph 1: Over time by industry
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Graph 2: Over time within production
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Graph 3: Over time by gender
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Graph 4: Shares by gender
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Graph 5: Shares by industry
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Graph 6: By occupation
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Graph 7: Compared to GB
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows total number of jobs over time, with the data broken down into four overall sectors, namely: manufacturing, construction and other production industries (sec codes A-F); wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants (sec codes G-H); finance and other business activities (sec codes I-K); and public sector and other community services (sec codes L-Q).
The second graph shows a further breakdown of the trends in the manufacturing, construction and other production industries sector.
The third graph shows the number of jobs split by gender and full-/part-time, with the data shown separately for the latest year and for a decade previously.
The fourth graph shows, for the latest year, the proportion of jobs that are in each of the four sectors for each of full-time male employees, full-time female employees and part-time employees (both sexes combined).
The fifth graph shows, for the latest year, how the total number of jobs in each sector is divided between full-time male jobs, full-time female jobs and part-time jobs (both sexes combined).
The sixth graph shows, for the latest year, what proportion of jobs in each occupation group are carried out by women. Note that the major occupations under the title 'personal service' are related to healthcare and childcare services. Those under 'elementary' relate to routine occupations.
The seventh graph shows, for each UK region and each sector, the change in jobs between 1997 and 2007. These changes are shown as a proportion of the total jobs in each region in 1997.
The data in all the graphs includes both employed and self-employed people. For employees, the source for the Northern Irish data is DETI, and that for Great Britain is ONS Labour Market Statistics. For self-employment, the source for both Northern Ireland and Great Britain is the Labour Force Survey. The data is for the month of March each year. All the employment data relates to the location of the jobs themselves rather than to where the people doing these jobs live. The one exception to all the above is the sixth graph, where the employment data is from the Labour Force Survey.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The data is from authoritative sources but is subject to substantial revisions from time to time. Furthermore, the Northern Ireland data is not from the same source as the Great Britain data, though they use similar methodologies.