Job trends
What else should you know about to make the right decision for you?
You might want to find out more about the changes in the types of jobs available and in the way people work.
The jobs people do
Employment in Scotland is higher than 25 years ago but the types of jobs that people do have changed.
- Fewer new jobs in manufacturing.
- More jobs within service industries; four out of every five employees in Scotland work in the service sector.
The level of skills employers look for is changing
- There are now more jobs which need higher level of skills.
- There are still a number of jobs that require few or no skills; particularly in hotels and restaurants and wholesale and retail. However, the numbers of jobs that need lower skill levels are expected to decline.
Other trends?
- Most people are in full-time, permanent jobs.
- The number of part-time jobs has increased in recent years but in addition to rather than as a replacement for full-time jobs.
- Job openings requiring new employees arise both from economic growth and from the need to replace people who leave employment.
- Most future jobs growth is expected to be in retail, health and social work and other business services.
- The more qualifications a person has; the better they are paid and less likely to be unemployed.
Have jobs become more insecure in terms of contract and hours?
- It doesn't seem so. The average length of time a Scottish employee has spent with their current employer is 8.3 years.
- In 2006 basic working hours (excluding overtime) were 37 hours. Almost unchanged from the figure in 1998.
Women in the job market
- A little more than half of all employees in Scotland are female.
- Women work fewer hours than men; 85 per cent of male employees work full-time compared to 52 per cent of female employees.
- On average, women's earnings are 89 per cent of men's.
- Scotland's gender pay gap is closing faster than anywhere else in the UK.
- Significant gender pay gaps still exist in the skilled trades and elementary occupations.
What else should you know about to make the right decision for you?
You might want to find out more about the changes in the types of jobs available and in the way people work.
Or if you are a parent, find out how things have changed since you were at school - take our Job Trends quiz.
