What Is LMI And What Types Of LMI Are There?

LMI stands for Labour Market Information. In short, it refers to any relevant information about the current state of the jobs market.

LMI can include information like:

• The industries and businesses that operate in a certain location.
• The types of jobs that exist and what they involve.
• How many of those jobs there are.
• The skills that are currently or will be in high demand.
• Commute and travel to work patterns.
• Typical rates of pay.
• Career progression opportunities.

LMI can be both quantitative (related to numbers and statistics), and qualitative (information and phenomena that can be observed but not measured). Qualitative LMI is usually based on studies and on data such as the Census, while qualitative LMI is based on interviews, anecdotes, press reports, networks, and so on.

Why Is LMI Useful?

The world of work is complex, even for adults who have had long professional careers. Many people feel that they fell into their career “by accident” or had to take the available opportunities rather than follow their passions.

LMI helps to demystify the jobs market. It helps to take the confusion out of career planning, job hunting, career progression, and changing career. When people have accurate and up-to-date information, they are better equipped to make an informed choice and to plan appropriately.

Researching LMI:

1. Unifrog - Unifrog career profiles include up to date information on labour market information and students in Year 9 and 10 have lessons on its importance, but all students can access this from home with their login details. 

2. National Careers Service allows you to search for careers by sector and filter by job category, e.g. administration. 

3. Barnet LMI – a document has been produced to provide a picture of what the labour market is like in Barnet. This can be found below.

4. London LMI – reports on trends and data in the London Labour Market, can also be found here.