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Workforce

Business Case / Workforce

Workforce

The people of York & North Yorkshire are our greatest asset. Our workforce includes some of the most loyal, hardworking, qualified, creative and entrepreneurial people in the country, offering employers a large pool of high quality workers at extremely competitive rates -- creating opportunities for significantly reduced overheads in comparison to the rest of the UK.

The average weekly pay in York & North Yorkshire is 39% less than the London average.1

Major employment sectors include public administration, education & health and banking, finance and insurance. The highest proportions of jobs held by individuals in York & North Yorkshire are in the Managers and Senior Officials group and the Professional Occupations group.2

Quality workforce

The labour force is consistently strengthened by top-ups from the excellent educational establishments within the area and high quality school leavers are a significant asset to the areas economic success. With graduate retention recognised as vital to the economic prosperity of an area, a key asset to York & North Yorkshire is its high quality graduate labour force. Many students stay in the region after graduating because of the high quality of life they experience here.

  • Examination results in York and North Yorkshire are consistently within the top 10% in the country with above average results in GCSE and ‘A’ Levels across the board. At the last count 94% of 16-year olds in the region stayed on in education.2
  • Six vocational educational establishments across York & North Yorkshire have been designated as Centres of Vocational Excellence in various fields.These centres work closely with both business and industry with a focus on enhancing the skills and careers of those already in work. Such COVE's include Selby College, which focuses on ICT and Askham Bryan College, focusing on Food Chain Technology.
  • The University of York has been credited with having the best quality teaching in the UK and is consistently ranked in the top 10 universities in the UK with almost 80% of its departments now qualified as world class. The university’s internationally renowed science base has helped the City to achieve official status as one of one of six designated Science Cities across the UK.
  • York St John University has some 6,000 students from the UK and overseas, the University offers education and training opportunities at foundation, undergraduate, postgraduate and post-experience level in the arts, health and life sciences, business, management, education and theology.
  • The University of Hull's Scarborough campus hosts the UK's first centre specifically devoted to Internet applications of computer science. The campus also offers a broad portfolio of subjects including the arts, humanities, business, science and technology.

Quality of life

The fact that York & North Yorkshire offers such a high quality of life goes to further strengthen the workforce. Not only is turnover low, due to the ease of retaining staff, but people are happy to relocate to the area, attracted by the high standards of living offered in the region.

100% of respondents from York & North Yorkshire identified quality of life as a strength at their current location versus 55% of respondents from the South.

Independent survey of senior decision makers carried out on behalf of york-england.com in 2006

 

  1. Annual survey of hours and earnings 2005, www.statistics.gov.uk
  2. Progress in York & North Yorkshire, 2006