UK capital named top employer for high-skill sectors

Anna Scott

London employs more high-skilled people than any other city in the world, but infrastructure, housing and immigration challenges must be dealt with to manage the predicted growth in these jobs, a report has found.

The capital city is the largest employer in 12 out of 22 high-skill sectors identified in the report from professional services firm Deloitte, called Globaltown: Winning London’s crucial battle for talent.

The sectors, including digital media, investment banking, legal services and retail, employ 1.5 million people living in London, compared with 1.2 million in New York and 630,000 in Hong Kong.

Deloitte analysis suggests that for every job in these sectors, a further two positions are formed in sectors including transport, retail, facilities maintenance, healthcare and law enforcement. Jobs in these sectors are predicted to grow by 100,000 before 2020.

To manage these challenges, suggested measures include appointing a chief talent officer with a mandate of setting and delivering London’s talent strategy and anticipating growing pressures on infrastructure and housing.

Links between business and education should be strengthened in order to predict what skills will be in demand and when, and whether educational institutions will be able to cope with more students.

The strong links between London businesses that employ people around the rest of the UK should also be maintained and developed.

“London is a desirable and diverse city in which to work, allowing it to attract the very best of British and international talent,” said Angus Knowles-Cutler, London senior partner at Deloitte. “But this will not last forever without renewal and regeneration. London has to address a number of fundamental challenges, for example, in infrastructure, housing and immigration, if we are to retain our lure as a destination for the world’s top talent.”

Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor for business and enterprise at the Greater London Authority (GLA) added that is was necessary to constantly refresh and adapt the workforce’s skills to keep London competitive.

“I cannot pretend that we in London are getting everything right,” he added. “There are gaps in the workforce’s skills set, and the Mayor and I are working hard, with government and the private sector, to address these.”

The 22 high value sectors, identified in the study are: primary and secondary education; culture; retail and investment banking; legal services; management, scientific and technical consulting; accounting, tax and payroll; architectural and engineering; insurance; publishing (except internet); digital media; fund management; telecommunications; advertising; radio and television broadcasting; hedge funds; cable and subscription programming; higher education; motion picture and sound recording; securities; adult and other education; computer programming (software development) and life sciences.