London jobs continue to grow, but other UK cities are closing the gap on job growth in many industries. So, will London continue to dominate UK job sector growth?
London has been leading the job growth race for years without close competition. It is difficult for other UK cities to compete with the local economy in London, despite reasonable efforts by the likes of Manchester, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
However, in 2020 with its unprecedented events, as well as being the home straight to a post-Brexit era, will London be able to remain on top of the job growth podium?
How London Jobs Are Growing
London’s job growth has mostly been ahead of UK averages for most years since 1997. The average increase during these records stands at just under 2%, and 2019 figures found that London had surpassed the 2% growth – as did the rest of the UK.
The percentage points between London and the UK usually have some distance between them, but over the last few years, job growth in London and the rest of the UK have been almost identical. The figures suggest that other UK cities are attracting more businesses and professionals, but jobs in London remain to grow as well.
Fastest Growing Industries in London
Jobs rarely if ever grow evenly across industries in a single location. London is no different. The city’s job growth has mainly come from the following sectors which tend to have snowballed over the last decade, namely:
* Transport and logistics: how else will you get a densely packed population around the city?
* FinTech: The financial and technological industries are both almost synonymous with London’s job growth.
* Marketing: The internet and social media have made digital marketing a prerequisite to all successful businesses. In fact, the internet and marketing rely on each other in the modern age substantially.
* Energy: The energy efficiency is revolutionising at the moment, catering to the UK Government’s demands of becoming carbon neutral in the not-so-distant future.
Challenges Facing London Industries
One of the most significant challenges facing job growth in London is Brexit. The uncertainty remains for many businesses with some already flocking up the M1 to northern cities. This trend is more often to do with companies being able to still attract top professionals, while simultaneously cutting business costs on office spaces and alike.
Moreover, if a trend in remote working continues after the current economic situation, many businesses may not feel a desire to be based in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Will London Continue to Dominate?
As the results already suggest, London may well continue to enjoy better job growth in the UK for the time being. However, suggesting that the capital will dominate would imply that other UK cities could not keep up with the rate of growth in London. That appears not to be the case. Events like Brexit and economic recovery from the pandemic may shift jobs elsewhere and close the gap on London’s previous dominance.
