MMU study reveals financial sector soaring
The financial and professional services sector has experienced the single biggest growth in North West employment in the past decade, according to a new Manchester Metropolitan University study.
The report, The Changing Professions in the North West of England, reveals that last year 428,800 people were employed in this sector in the region – up from 315,200 ten years prior.
This increase of 113,600 accounts for 23% of overall growth in the region's top 10 employment growth sectors, ahead of education and life sciences, which are ranked as the second and third fastest growing.
By 2020, the report predicts, almost a third of people will be working in related professions.
Vice-chancellor professor John Brooks said: "Preparing for the new post-industrial knowledge economy is a challenge the North West is facing and which Manchester is leading. Manchester's Knowledge Capital ambition is being realised by the successful growth of the professional and financial services sector and the exciting opportunities offered by the relocation of the BBC to Media City.
"Knowledge is clearly central to the future economic prosperity of our region and the role of universities in the creation and communication of knowledge is vital. MMU strongly supports the new agenda for universities and reflects this in our ambition to become the leading university for world class professionals'."
The top 10 employment growth sectors in the North West of England are:
1. Financial and Professional Services;
2. Education;
3. Life Sciences;
4. Retail;
5. Construction;
6. Hospitality and Tourism;
7. ICT Digital and Communications;
8. Creative/Digital/New Media;
9. Public Sector;
10. Sport.
