Census 2011 – Second Release:
Industry and Occupation
KEY MESSAGES
SUMMARY
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GM has a lower proportion of residents working in higher paid occupations
such as managers, professionals and technical staff than is the case
nationally; conversely a higher proportion of residents are employed in lower
paid jobs occupations, such as those working in sales, as machine operatives
and elementary occupations.
At the locality level, Trafford, Stockport and Bury have the highest
percentages of residents employed in the 3 highest skill occupational
categories; Salford, Tameside and Rochdale have the lowest percentages.
Tameside, Oldham and Wigan all have high levels of employment in the
Skilled Trades and Machine Operative roles.
Since 2001 there has been 13% growth in total occupational employment in
GM, compared to 12% growth for England & Wales. Growth has been
particularly strong in Manchester (50.0%) and Salford (18.9%).
Occupational profile changes GM in percentage terms have broadly been line
with changes seen nationally.
In terms of GM’s industry of employment profile a similar picture emerges,
with relatively fewer GM residents working in better paid industrial categories
such as professional/scientific, information & communications and other
financial services, and relatively more working in the Wholesale and retail and
Administrative and support services industries.
Tameside, Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham and Bolton all have high levels of
Manufacturing industry employment.
Levels of employment within the three ‘public sector’ industries (Education,
Health and social work, and Public administration) are broadly similar across
the conurbation.
The changes in GM’s industrial profile since 2001 include a 37% decline in
manufacturing employment, 26% growth in Construction employment and
40% growth in Education sector employment.
CONTEXT
Analysis of the 2011 Census first release revealed that from 2001 to 2011 the
population of Greater Manchester had increased by 6.6% (166,000). This population
growth has been mainly concentrated in the centre (Manchester [19.0%], Salford
[7.8%]) of the conurbation but also to the south (Trafford [7.8%] and west (Wigan
[5.4%], Bolton [5.9%]). Boroughs to the north and east of the conurbation core have
seen lower rates of population growth (2-3%).
The in-migration of young people and families to the conurbation core has been a
key factor in GM population growth. In addition, Greater Manchester is currently
experiencing a mini baby-boom, with an 18% increase in the conurbation’s 0-4
population since 2001 and nearly 1-in-4 of these births being to mothers born outside
the UK.
This note focuses on occupational and industrial employment profiles.1 Data on
economic activity is also provided by the Annual Population Survey (APS). However,
APS figures are derived from a sample of the local population whereas the Census
1
The full datasets are available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-referencetables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-286262
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figures are based upon 98% of the total population; hence the Census provides us
with a more accurate and more detailed picture of occupational and industrial
employment profiles within an area.
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OCCUPATION
The 2011 Census asked all usual residents aged 16-74 and in employment what
their occupational level was in the week before the Census was undertaken. The
1.22million GM residents who answered this question could choose from 9
occupational categories, ranging from category 1 (Managerial, director and senior
official occupations) to category 9 (Elementary occupations).2
The results for GM show that the conurbation has more workers in lower skill
occupations and fewer workers in the higher skill occupations than would be
expected given the national workforce profile.
There are big differences in GM occupational profile when the results are analysed
by gender. Thus:
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GM’s female residents are 4 times more likely than male residents to work in
Administrative or Caring/leisure/other services occupations;
Male residents are 8 times more likely to work in a Skilled Trades occupation;
The often reported lack of women in Managerial roles nationwide is also true
in GM (7% of GM’s female residents are in occupation category 1 vs. 12% of
males) but GM’s females residents are more likely to be employed in
Professional occupations than male counterparts and almost as likely to be
employed in Associate Professional roles.
Figure 1: Occupation sector split for those in employment, aged 16-74
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1.Managers, directors and senior officials, 2. Professional occupations, 3. Associate professional and
technical occupation 4. Administrative and secretarial occupations 5. Skilled trades occupations 6.
Caring, leisure and other service occupations 7. Sales and customer service occupations 8 Process,
plant and machine operatives 9 Elementary occupations.
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Comparing GM’s occupational profiles by gender to the national profiles shows that
although both male and female residents in GM struggle to access the highest
occupational roles, the gaps between GM and England & Wales female occupational
employment rates are smaller than the gaps between male occupational rates – i.e.
men in GM have a relatively harder time securing high skill occupational roles.
By GM locality, Trafford, Stockport and Bury have the highest percentages of
residents employed in the three highest skill occupational categories; Salford,
Tameside and Rochdale have the lowest percentages. On this measure, the City of
Manchester is unusual in that it has the lowest percentage of residents in
occupational category 1 but more than average percentages for categories 2&3 – this
may be a reflection of younger, less well paid professionals choosing to live within
the core of the conurbation before moving to the outlying boroughs as they get older.
Tameside, Oldham and Wigan all have noticeably high levels of employment in the
Skilled Trades and Machine Operative roles. Manchester3 and to a lesser extent
Oldham are characterised by high percentages of employees working in Elementary
occupations.
Comparing occupational profiles by gender for all 10 localities is a difficult task to
summarise but generally patterns match those seen for all residents – e.g. male and
female resident cohorts in Bury, Trafford and Stockport are both more likely to be
employed in high skill occupations than males and females living elsewhere in GM.
Since 2001 all districts in GM have experienced increases in total numbers in
employment but there are stark differences in total employment growth by locality:
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In Stockport employment increased by 1% over the decade; and
In Manchester employment increased by 50% over the decade.
Employment growth rates surpassed the England & Wales (12.3%) average in only
two GM districts: Salford (18.9%) and Manchester (50.0%), with Trafford (11.9%) and
Wigan (10.5%) the only other two to get into double-digit growth over the period.
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Only Birmingham (55,969) and Leeds (41,095) have more residents employed in elementary
occupation than Manchester.
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Figure 2: Occupational growth by GM locality vs. England & Wales profile
Manchester was the only GM locality to experience growth in all nine occupation
categories.
The other nine districts all experienced falls in two categories: Managers, Directors,
senior officials and category; and Process, plant and machine operatives.
There were falls (against the national trend) in the numbers of Associate
Professionals in Rochdale (-8.6%), Stockport (-7.4%), Oldham (-5.8%) and Bury
(-4.0%).
Aside from Manchester (24.4%), only Wigan (2.8%) and Salford (2.5%) experienced
growth in Admin/secretarial posts, which was also against the national trend (-3.6%).
There was a -3.5% fall in Skilled Trades occupations in Stockport, again this was in
contrast to local and national changes (10.6%).
Only Manchester (34.8%), Salford (8.7%), Bolton (2.3%) and Trafford (1.8%) saw
growth in Elementary occupations, which was in the same as direction of change
nationally (5.3% growth).
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INDUSTRY
The 2011 Census also asked all usual residents aged 16-74 and in employment what
industry they were employed in the week before the Census was undertaken.
Twenty-one response options were given, lettered A-U4.
Figure 3: Industry composition of GM employees vs. England & Wales profile
The two industries in which GM has noticeably higher percentage employments are:
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles; and Human
health and social work activities. The conurbation also has relatively high rates of
employment in Manufacturing, Transport and storage, and Administrative and
support services. Industries that are relatively under-represented include Agriculture,
forestry and fishing, Public administration and defence, compulsory social security,
and Information and communication.
Analysing the GM results by gender shows that:
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Male residents are most likely to be employed in Wholesale and retail trade
(18%), repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles, Construction (12%) or
Manufacturing (13%); and
Female residents are most likely to be employed in Human health and social
work activities (23%), Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and
motor cycles (17%), or Education (15%).
Comparing GM gender results to the England & Wales picture reveals certain
industries in which men or women living in GM are more or less likely to work than
their England & Wales counterparts:
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing, B Mining and quarrying, C Manufacturing, D Electricity, gas, steam
and air conditioning supply E Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, F
Construction G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles H Transport and
storage I Accommodation and food service activities J Information and communication K Financial and
insurance activities R, S, T, U Other L Real estate activities M Professional, scientific and technical
activities N Administrative and support service activities O Public administration and defence;
compulsory social security P Education Q Human health and social work activities.
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Table 1: GM industry of employment profile by gender vs. England & Wales
Are more likely to work in…
Are less likely to work in…
GM males…
Wholesale and retail trade
Public administration
Administrative/support services Information and communication
Transport and storage
Financial and insurance
Manufacturing
activities
Professional, scientific and
technical activities
GM females…
Human health and social work
Information and communication
Wholesale and retail trade
Public administration
Administrative/support services Professional, scientific and
technical activities
Cross referencing these results to the occupational figures reported in section 2, the
relatively high numbers of male residents employed in Skilled Trades occupations is
likely to be a reflection of GM’s strengths in male Manufacturing and Transport and
storage employment. The relatively high numbers of female residents in
Administrative and Caring/leisure occupations is likely to be a reflection of GM’s
strengths in female Health and social work and Administrative/support services
employment.
By locality, the statistics reveal that:
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Tameside, Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham and Bolton all have high levels of
Manufacturing employment (at least 1 in 10 employees in each locality, rising
to 13% in Tameside);
Likewise, GM’s Construction industry is heavily concentrated in these 5
boroughs (but especially Wigan);
Despite being the conurbation core and therefore having a large number of
retail outlets, the City of Manchester has one of the lowest percentages (16%)
of residents employed in Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles
and motor cycles. Manchester does however have by some distance the
largest Accommodation and food services sector, both in absolute and
relative terms;
19% of Trafford residents are employed in traditionally highly paid industries
of Information and communication, Financial and insurance activities, and
Professional, scientific and technical activities – twice the percentage
recorded in Wigan, Rochdale and Oldham; and
Levels of employment within the three ‘public sector’ industries (Education,
Health and social work, and Public administration) are broadly similar across
the conurbation, with all 10 localities having between 27-31% of residents
employed in these industries.
The industry classification has changed since 2001 so it is not possible to make likefor-like comparisons for all categories. However, there are some changes that can
be noted:
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Continuing falls in Manufacturing employment with 66,000 (-37.0%) fewer
employees in the sector across GM;
25% in Construction employment for GM;
Manchester (49.8%) and Salford (14.0%) performing better than other GM
localities in terms of Wholesale and retail trade employment growth; and
The education category showing strong growth, most notably in Manchester
(65.2%).
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FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on New Economy’s Census work please contact Mike
Doocey: mike.doocey@neweconomymanchester.com
Data produced in this briefing have been reproduced with the permission of the
Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and are © Crown Copyright.
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