Joe Green

Comparing Trends of the UK's Structure of Employment, Earnings and

Competitiveness With Greece
There are several factors that mae up the UK's current structure of employment! There
are various trends "ithin this structure of employment and can #e categorised #y age,
gender, ethnicity and region! $ current trend "ithin the UK is a high level of youth
unemployment, current research sho"s that %&',((( young people aged )* to +, are
unemployed! This is an increase of )-,((( from the previous .uarter! There could #e
multiple reasons for this do"n"ard trend, most liely #eing that the government/s
incentives and training schemes to get young people into "or are proving ineffective!
Trends relating to gender sho" there is a 'pay gap' #et"een "omen and men! 0esearch
#y the 1a"cett Society sho"s that "omen earn ),!%2 less than men for the same 3o#!
This is despite the fact that on average, females attain more $4 to C grades at GCSE,
suggesting that "omen should #e employed and paid more for academical 3o#s! 5igh
levels of unemployment in ethnic minorities is another issue the UK has to deal "ith!
0esearch sho"s that nearly half of #lac males aged )*6+, are unemployed, compared to
only +(2 of their "hite counterparts! Unemployment in the 7orth East of England has
#een sho"n in recent research to have rose to )(!,2, compared to the national average,
"hich fell to &!&2!This could possi#ly #e due to the immo#ility of la#our in the UK, as
many people are not "illing to relocate to find "or and #rea social ties! This level of
unemployment may #e due to the specialisation of industry in the 7orth East in past
decades, and "hen these industries "ere outsourced to more competitive countries large
lay6offs of the "orforce triggered a rise in unemployment!
Current research is sho"ing that unit la#our costs in the UK are rising, U8Cs rose #y +!,2
in .uarter +, sho"ing a rise at a faster pace than Germany, 9taly and 1rance! The UK
currently lies in :
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position in the Glo#al Competitiveness 9nde;, an improvement of +
places from )(
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in +())6+()+! The government is taing steps to help mae the UK more
competitive ho"ever, these include a target inflation rate of +2, increased education and
training and deregulation to improve competition in product marets #y reducing the
#arriers to entry!
These issues are relatively minor in comparison to a country such as Greece, "hich has
suffered a massive increase in unemployment, from )&2 in +()) to +&2 in +()'! this rise
from around &-(,((( unemployed persons in +()) to 3ust over )!, million in +()' is an
alarming increase for any country! Comparing this to the &!&2 unemployment rate in
<ritain, "hich is steadily falling, although not #y a large amount, the UK is in a decidedly
healthier position! Unit la#our costs have varied "ildly in Greece since +()), #ut the
general trend is a fall in cost from a high of )&( in June +()) to a current level of ),& in
late +()+! This is contrasted "ith the UK's rise in Unit 8a#our Costs, from a lo" of )'& in
January +()) to the current level of )-- in +()'! While this may indicate the Greece is
more competitive than the UK #ased on unit la#our costs, the Glo#al competitiveness
inde; sho"s that the UK is in a #etter position for the time #eing =:
th
compared to Greece
at %*
th
>! This position puts Greece as the least competitive mem#er of the EU!