Written by Dr Oliver Jenkin PGCE RCDP, Senior Career Development Consultant 

As I reflected in my recent article on LMI in the context of Covid-19, labour market information is a complex, multivariate resource at the best of times and has become even more challenging to stay abreast of as we continue to meet the health-related and economic challenges posed by the pandemic. These same challenges also point to the importance of bringing order to the many disparate and fast-moving sources of LMI available now, as the success of any type of career development work – especially in times as volatile as these – depends on it.

CSW Group staff have a long track record of successfully supporting our clients and other stakeholders in gaining a sound understanding of how national and local labour market trends impact the choices facing young people and is always looking to utilise new technologies to help us maintain and build upon our strong track record in this area.

One recent initiative has been to create a dedicated Microsoft Teams channel that all CSW staff can use to locate the labour market information they need quickly and efficiently without wasting valuable time having to search for it. At present there are dedicated channels for all the National Careers Service job sectors, as well as local, national, international and graduate information. All CSW Career Development Consultants and Community Engagement Advisers have a labour market sector and are responsible for maintaining the relevant LMI channel, feeding back to the wider team regularly regarding developments in their sector, and being available to share their specialist knowledge with clients, stakeholders and colleagues when needed.

Maintaining our local focus – informed by wider economic developments – is one of CSW Group’s key strengths and to this end the company has recently rolled out access to EMSI UK’s Career Coach LMI platform. Unlike other popular resources such as LMI for All, which tend to focus on large regional areas, Career Coach is able to provide clients and advisers with a local postcode-level view of what is happening with specific occupations in their locality. Synthesising multiple sources of LMI in an efficient, easy-to-use manner, Career Coach helps staff to provide cutting-edge insights into the South West’s labour market that is easily accessible to clients.

Being able to provide high-quality, accurate but accessible local and national labour market information has long helped distinguish CSW from its competitors. We remain committed to maintaining and enhancing our expertise in this area to deliver the best possible advice and guidance.