Unemployment duration and employability in remote rural labour markets

Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

Unemployment duration and employability in remote rural labour markets Colin Lindsaya, Martin McCrackena,b, Ronald W. McQuaida,* a

Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Redwood House, 66 Spylaw Road Edinburgh EH10 5BR, UK b School of Management, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

Abstract This paper analyses the barriers to work faced by long- and short-term unemployed people in remote rural labour markets. Applying a broad concept of ‘employability’ as an analytical framework, it considers the attributes and experiences of 190 job seekers (22% of the registered unemployed) in two contiguous travel-to-work areas (Wick and Sutherland) in the northern Highlands of Scotland. The labour demand side of employability is also considered through interviews with 17 employers. The paper identifies the specific job search and other employment problems faced by unemployed people living in isolated rural communities (labour supply); considers the perspective of employers (labour demand); and discusses potential policies to address the needs of unemployed individuals. Many job seekers were found to have gaps in generic and job-specific skills, whilst some (particularly males) were reluctant to pursue opportunities in non-traditional sectors of the economy. The importance of informal job search and recruitment networks (which may exclude the young and the long-term unemployed) and the lack of access to formal employment services in remote areas also potentially contributed to labour market disadvantage. Holistic and client-centred solutions are required to address the barriers faced by these rural job seekers, including adult basic education provision, flexible training focussing on skills and work experience with particular relevance to the new rural economy, and support services for job seekers in isolated areas. These supply-side policies should be combined with demand-side measures to stimulate endogenous and exogenous growth in isolated local economies. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Unemployment; Employability; Labour markets; Remote rural areas

1. Introduction This paper considers the barriers to work faced by long- and short-term unemployed people in remote rural labour markets. Applying a broad concept of ‘employability’ as an analytical framework, it reports the findings of research undertaken with registered unemployed people and recruiting employers in the Wick and Sutherland travel-to-work areas (TTWAs) in the northern Scottish Highlands. Rural labour markets in the United Kingdom, like those across Europe, have been experiencing a period of continuous and rapid change (OECD, 1996; Bryden and Bollman, 2000). The decline of primary sector agricultural and food-production industries has been accompanied by increases in service employment, especially in tourism (Bontron and Lasnier, 1997; Meyer, 1997; *Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-131-455-5103. E-mail address: [email protected] (R.W. McQuaid).

Marsden, 1998). This economic transition has not been without its difficulties and instances of severe deprivation remain (Phimister et al., 2000; Shucksmith, 2000a). Indeed, it has been estimated that one in three individuals in rural Britain had experienced at least one period of poverty during the early-mid-1990s (Chapman et al., 1998). The tenacity of localised unemployment, and in particular long-term unemployment, has been cited as an important factor explaining the continuing problem of social exclusion in some rural areas (Cabinet Office, 2000; Shucksmith and Philip, 2000). Accordingly, a number of recent studies have sought to investigate the dynamics of the unemployment problem within these labour markets, resulting in the identification of a range of barriers to work faced by rural job seekers. These barriers include: demand-side problems related to industrial restructuring, geographical remoteness, and low population density; localised skills mismatches; an over-reliance on low-skilled, casual (often seasonal)

0743-0167/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 7 4 3 - 0 1 6 7 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 6 7 - 0

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work; the preponderance of small enterprises that are more likely to fall victim to sectoral downturns; and a weak transport and service infrastructure (e.g. Shucksmith et al., 1996; Beatty and Fothergill, 1999; Monk et al., 1999; Cartmel and Furlong, 2000; Shucksmith, 2000b). Suggested policy responses have focused upon both labour demand and labour supply (McQuaid, 1997; Atterton, 2001). However, the effects of the restructuring of the rural economy in the UK and elsewhere call for a clearer distinction to be drawn between the difficulties faced by rural labour markets linked to near-by urban and employment centres (peri-urban areas), and the more fundamental structural problems of very remote areas which are located on the geographical and economic periphery. Rural areas are by definition affected by dispersed patterns of economic activity and geographical peripherality (Mitchell and Clark, 1999; Grimes, 2000; Huggins, 2001) but these problems are greatly exacerbated in more remote labour markets, which are isolated from the opportunities associated with major commuter routes and centres of economic activity. The interaction of the personal and area-based barriers to work experienced by job seekers in these remote labour markets is therefore of considerable interest. Similarly, the existing literature rarely acknowledges the specific problems faced by the long-term unemployed and other particularly disadvantaged groups in these isolated areas, which tend to be characterised by small pools of job opportunities and strong, but potentially exclusive, social networks.1 An analysis of the differences (and commonalities) in the barriers faced by those who have experienced long-term unemployment and those who have faced shorter periods out of work is also of more general value. Current active labour market policies in the UK tend to be predicated on the idea that unchecked long-term unemployment can lead to the emergence of a demoralised and even unemployable group (see, for example, Layard, 1997). As a result, long-term unemployed people are subject to a range of often compulsory labour market measures including ‘Restart’ interviews and, especially for young people, participation in the New Deal (Lindsay, 2001). Section 2 briefly discusses the concept of employability. This considers the ‘employability assets’ of job seekers, their presentation and deployment of those assets, and external context factors affecting their employability, including the demand side attitudes and recruitment practices of employers. Section 3 describes

the Wick and Sutherland TTWAs and the surveys. Section 4 reports the findings of the research, in particular comparing the barriers to work faced by both the long-term and short-term unemployed. Section 5 then examines the effect of employers’ attitudes and recruitment strategies on individuals’ employability. Finally, Section 6 draws together conclusions and implications for the application of ‘employability’ as both a theoretical and a policy concept.

2. Employability and unemployment in rural areas Employability has become a central concept in national labour market policies over the last decade. At the supranational level, employability forms one of the four pillars of the European Employment Strategy (European Commission, 1999). As such, it is similarly prioritised within the UK’s National Action Plan (DfEE, 2001) and is a key objective of the British government’s flagship New Deal programmes (see, for example, DfEE, 1998). Yet the concept continues to be used with reference to range of different meanings and contexts (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2002). In an attempt to develop an understanding of employability that would provide a framework for policy analysis, Hillage and Pollard (1998) have drawn upon a range of studies on social exclusion, unemployment and labour market policy. They conclude that employability can best be understood as the result of a complex interaction of different components: *

*

*

1

These policies, and the Employment Service, define a long-term unemployed person as someone claiming benefits and being unemployed and actively seeking work for at least 6 months, so this definition is used in this paper, rather than the ILO definition of those wanting to work but unemployed for over 12 months.

*

employability assets: including baseline assets, such as basic skills and essential personal attributes (e.g. reliability and honesty); intermediate assets, such as job-specific, generic and ‘key’ skills (e.g. communication and problem solving); and high level assets, such as those skills that contribute to organisational performance (e.g. team work and commercial awareness); presentation: defined as the ability to secure an appointment to an appropriate position through the demonstration of employability assets, i.e. by presenting them within the labour market in an accessible way (e.g. through the competent completion of a CV or application form, or participation in an interview); deployment: referring to a range of abilities including career management skills (e.g. awareness of one’s own abilities and limitations, awareness of opportunities in the labour market, and decision-making and transitional skills); job search skills; and strategic skills (including a realistic approach to the pursuit of job opportunities); and context factors, or the interaction of personal circumstances and the labour market: the ability to

C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

realise the assets and skills discussed above will depend upon external socio-economic factors, personal circumstances, and the relationship between the two. External conditions such as local labour market demand and employer attitudes will impact upon the availability of suitable opportunities, whilst personal circumstances, such as caring responsibilities, physical health and household status will affect the ability of individuals to pursue opportunities. As discussed above, the context of remote rural areas are significantly different from other areas in many respects. Hillage and Pollard arguably over-emphasise the individual factors affecting the employment prospects of unemployed people, perhaps reflecting the supplyside focus adopted by policy makers, but relatively neglecting labour demand factors. Nevertheless, their typology of the concept of employability provides a useful framework for examining the barriers preventing the unemployed from finding work. Accordingly, the analysis below examines the ‘employability assets’ of job seekers, their deployment and presentation of those assets within the labour market, and ‘context factors’ affecting their employability. However, the framework is adapted in two ways. First, ‘context factors’ are explicitly separated into general context factors and labour demand factors (including the recruitment priorities and methods used by employers), which are considered below in Sections 4 and 5. Second, job seekers are disaggregated according to their length of unemployment.

3. The study areas in context and methodological issues The research reported in this paper was carried out in November–December 2000 in two contiguous TTWAs in the Scottish Highlands: Wick and Sutherland. Caithness (the area in which Wick is located) and Sutherland are the most northerly counties of mainland Britain, and are therefore particularly remote from major centres of economic investment and industrial activity (Fig. 1), Wick is situated 105 miles north of the Highlands’ only city and main administrative centre, Inverness, and 260 miles from Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh. The areas are also among the most sparsely populated in Europe, at 14.8 persons per square km in Caithness and only 2.2 persons per square km in Sutherland.2 National government agencies have acknowledged the remote rural context as being a defining 2 The areas’ populations saw a decline of 2.7% between 1991 and 1998, to around 13,000 in Sutherland and 8000 in Wick, in comparison with 0.3% increases across the Highlands and Islands area and in Scotland in general (Highlands and Islands Enterprise, 1999).

189

factor in the dynamics of the Wick and Sutherland labour markets. Under its seven-fold classification of New Deal local delivery areas, the national Employment Service defines Caithness and Sutherland as a ‘rural, high unemployment’ area. The Scottish Executive’s national ‘household survey’ uses a more complex eight-fold classification of rurality and urbanity. An analysis of respondents’ postcodes suggests that under this model 49% of our interviewees resided in places designated as ‘remote rural’ or ‘very remote rural’ areas—the latter defined as ‘settlements of less than 3000 and over 60 min from a settlement of 10,000 or more’ (Scottish Executive, 2001). A further 49% resided in postcode areas classified as ‘very remote rural town’, with the remainder in ‘accessible rural’ or ‘other urban’ areas. The remoteness of Wick and Sutherland means that job seekers (and the agencies seeking to assist them) face a range of problems common to many rural labour markets, not least the limited number and range of available job opportunities—a result of low population density and weak inward investment. Within this general context, the Wick and Sutherland TTWAs face specific challenges as a result of industrial change and the decline of traditional centres of employment. Wick is a small town struggling to cope with the impact of the restructuring of traditional fishing-related industries, whilst the more sparsely populated Sutherland TTWA, covering an extensive geographical area (5865 km2), has also traditionally been highly dependent on declining primary sector employment. Around 3000 people now remain working in agriculture in the Caithness and Sutherland area, with those directly employed in fishing numbering only 200 (Highlands and Islands Enterprise, 1999). With the decline of these traditional industries, tourism, financial services and public sector employment now dominate the limited opportunities within the Wick and Sutherland labour markets. Both Wick and Sutherland have recently been affected by persistently high rates of unemployment and long-term unemployment. In November 2000, the unemployment rate for the Scottish Highlands (i.e. in the ‘Highland Council’ local authority area) was identical to that for Scotland as a whole at 5.0%. At the same time the Wick and Sutherland TTWAs were experiencing much higher levels of general unemployment, at 7.0% and 10.6%, respectively (the unemployment rate in Wick having peaked at 19% in 1996). Furthermore, in both areas, 40–50% of all registered job seekers were ‘long-term unemployed’, having not worked in over 6 months. Responses were gathered from a random sample of 190 respondents across the two areas (with 56% being resident in the Wick TTWA). Across the combined study areas, 22% of all registered unemployed job

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C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

Fig. 1. Location of Wick and Sutherland travel to work areas.

C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

seekers were surveyed.3 Long-term unemployed people formed 62% in the final sample, compared to 43% of the official registered (claimant count) unemployed people. Respondents were questioned about their household and family circumstances, educational and skills attainment, experience of the labour market, job search strategies and perceived barriers to work. Approximately 80% of the sample was male, compared to 75% of the registered unemployed (although 55% of employees in the Caithness and Sutherland area are female). However, women formed a far smaller proportion of our long-term unemployed sample (15%) than the ‘short-term’ group (27%). Those who had been unemployed for less than 6 months were twice as likely to own their own home, or be the spouse of a homeowner (35%, compared to 17% of the long-term unemployed), whereas the long-term unemployed were more likely to live in public sector rented properties (60% compared to 44% of short-term unemployed). The age profile of both sample groups was similar, but a slightly higher proportion of long-term unemployed people were over 45 (43%, compared to 38% of other respondents). Conversely, members of the short-term unemployed sample were more likely to be in the 16–24 age group (22% compared to 17%, of the long-term unemployed). Nearly one-fifth of all respondents (19% in both areas) were aged 16–24. Approximately 40% of both groups were aged between 25 and 44. These figures reflect the registered unemployed in the two areas — in November 2000, 42% of registered job seekers in Wick and Sutherland were aged over 45, while 16% were aged 16–24. It should, however, be noted that a far higher proportion of registered unemployed people in Sutherland were over 45, compared to those in the Wick TTWA (47% compared to 33%), another characteristic reflected in our samples from the two areas (48% of the Sutherland sample, but only 36% of those from Wick were over 45). In general terms, the age profile of job seekers in Wick and Sutherland is unusually high (by comparison, only 26% of all job seekers in Scotland were aged over 45 in November 2000). This would appear to reflect the ageing of the workforce in the two areas, and particularly the out-migration of younger job seekers. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were also carried out with 17 employers in the public and private sectors, who together employed around half of the local work force. They were asked about their attitudes towards the unemployed, staffing and recruitment priorities and sectoral skills needs and gaps. 3 Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 158 people in the Employment Service Jobcentre at Wick, and at community centres in Wick and Brora, Sutherland and 32 telephone and postal responses were gathered from job seekers in more remote areas of Sutherland. In all cases interviews were anonymous and were carried out in ‘quiet areas’ to ensure confidentiality.

191

4. Results—employability characteristics 4.1. Unemployed job seekers’ employability assets A major factor limiting the employment prospects of people (and particularly the long-term unemployed) are gaps in their ‘employability assets’, such as a lack of skills, academic qualifications or work experience. Some 45% of respondents unemployed for under 6 months and almost two-thirds of the long-term unemployed (64%) had not achieved pass grades at SCE Standard Grade or equivalent (this represented 53% of the total sample). Using the broader categorisations adopted by the Office for National Statistics, which cross-match academic and vocational qualifications, it was found that only 28% of recently unemployed respondents and 26% of the long-term unemployed were qualified at or above the generalised level defined as ‘SCE Higher Grade or equivalent’ (final school leaving level) (Table 1). This compares with a figure of 53% amongst the general Scottish working age population (Scottish Office, 1998). More disturbingly, whereas only 17% of the wider Scottish labour force reported holding no formal academic or vocational qualifications at all, this was the case for 25% of those unemployed for less than 6 months and 44% of the longer term unemployed. These figures do not reflect a general failure to take up learning opportunities in the northern Scottish Highlands, but rather the particular problems faced by unemployed job seekers. Recent labour market studies conducted in Sutherland have demonstrated that the local labour force’s educational attainment is similar to that in other areas of Scotland. In the east of Sutherland only 16% of the population hold no qualifications, while 30% hold SCE School Highers or equivalent—almost exactly mirroring the national averages (System Three, 2000). Approximately 40% of the Sutherland labour force has progressed to further or higher education. In the Caithness area (where Wick is situated) research carried out in the mid-1990s suggested that up to 36% of the local labour force were unqualified, but given that young people entering the labour market are generally more likely to hold qualifications, this figure may have substantially declined (System Three, 1995). To reiterate, we can conclude that the rural context does not in itself necessarily restrict learning opportunities, but that unemployed people (and particularly the long-term unemployed), many of whom already have basic gaps in their skills and qualifications, may face further barriers to developing their employability as a result of their remote location. Finally, it is notable that there was relatively little age-based difference in the educational attainment of those who had been unemployed for less than 6 months. However, amongst the long-term unemployed, older respondents were much more likely to have low attainment. The proportion of young

C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

192

Table 1 Respondents’ level of qualification achieved, combining academic and vocational awards (ONS classifications), by duration of unemployment (%) Level of qualification achieved Nonea SCE standard grade/ equivalentb SCE higher grade/ equivalentc Higher education qualificationd Degree Total (rounded)

Duration o6 months

Duration 6 months+

Total

25 47

44 31

37 37

9

14

12

13

9

11

6

3

4

100

100

100

a

‘None’ includes those naming vocational quals not recognised in the Labour Force Survey. b ‘S Grade or equivalent’ includes SCE Ordinary and Standard Grades, GSVQ, RSA diploma level and SVQ 1–2. c ‘H grade or equivalent’ includes SCE Higher Grades, GSVQ advanced, RSA advanced diploma, SVQ level 3. d ‘Higher Ed. qualification’ includes HND, HNC, SVQ 4 and professional qualifications.

long-term unemployed people (16–24) with no formal qualifications was 25%, rising to 32% with the inclusion of the 25–34 age group. This compares to 55% of longterm unemployed people aged over 34 who had no qualifications. Given the importance of work experience to many recruiting employers, and the manner in which skills are often gained ‘on the job’ rather than through formal educational programmes (within both traditional primary and secondary industries and the service sector), respondents’ previous experience of and attachment to the labour market were investigated. When asked to describe their working life since leaving compulsory education, a majority of both sample groupings suggested that they had experienced ‘mostly stable employment’ or ‘only rare periods of unemployment’ (63% of pre-six months and 54% of long-term unemployed). However, a further 33% of long-term unemployed job seekers described their working life as consisting of ‘mostly unemployment’ or ‘several periods of unemployment’ (compared to only 20% of more recently unemployed people who made similar statements). Long-term unemployment would therefore appear to be associated with a more general sense of detachment from the labour market experienced by some job seekers over a prolonged period in their adult lives. In the area of occupational status, over half of the long-term unemployed had previously most regularly held low-skilled or unskilled jobs (43%), or had no regular former occupation (14%). Rather fewer of the short-term unemployed group reported similar experi-

ences (34% were formerly low-skilled workers and 6% had no former occupation). Perhaps more importantly, as Table 2 illustrates, long-term unemployed people were far less likely to have formerly held skilled or semiskilled occupations (29%, compared to 49% of more recently unemployed job seekers). However, it should be noted that the skills profile reported by a number of respondents in both duration groups did not reflect their (often severely limited) educational attainment. Given the generally low levels of qualification achieved by many job seekers, we might expect to find even more respondents reporting a work history characterised by unskilled employment. That so many considered themselves to be skilled workers may reflect the form that entry-level work takes in some rural labour markets. Many ‘semi-skilled/skilled’ respondents had previously worked in the energy or land-based sectors, where a greater range of work tasks are generally required of even lower skilled manual workers. (Low-skilled employment in more urbanised labour markets is arguably more likely to be dominated by basic personal services or production work, characterised by minimal task variety and autonomy in the workplace.) Recent and relevant work experience, more than any other attribute, is the crucial hiring criterion for many employers, and particularly those recruiting to lower skilled or entry-level positions (Atkinson et al., 1996; Brown et al., 2001). This is true of employers in the northern Highlands as elsewhere in the United Kingdom (see below). Accordingly, unemployed people (and particularly long-term unemployed people) will be disadvantaged when competing for vacancies in the labour market. Furthermore, as the above analysis of the ‘employability assets’ of rural job seekers reveals, many possess relatively limited occupational skills and qualifications. In these circumstances, and given the labour market conditions in these two areas, it might be argued that the adoption of an inclusive, wide-ranging approach to looking for work will be vital in facilitating job seekers’ entry into work. However, it would appear that external barriers related to the geography of rural local labour markets and the under-development of local support services, as well as the attitudes of individuals, have the capacity to restrict the range and extent of job search strategies. 4.2. The deployment and presentation of employability assets Service professionals dealing with job seekers have long expressed concerns that the long-term unemployed can fall victim to a deeper and more lasting forms of social exclusion due to their isolation from the informal information-sharing networks provided by work-based

C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200 Table 2 Skills level of former regular occupation of respondents (%) Occupational skills level Higher skilled/ professional Skilled/semi-skilled Low-skilled/unskilled No former regular occupation Total (rounded)

Duration o6 months

Duration 6 months+

193

Table 3 Job search method used to identify last job vacancy targeted (%) Total

10

15

13

49 34 6

29 43 14

37 39 11

100

100

100

relationships. In the current study there is evidence of this isolation in the manner in which long-term unemployed respondents were less likely to gain information about job opportunities from informal or social contacts. When asked to identify their most important source of job information, the vast majority of long-term unemployed people named local newspapers (55%), or the local Employment Service (ES) Job Centre (23%). Short-term unemployed people also made considerable use of newspapers (40%) but made much less use of Job Centres (9%) (n ¼ 156). On the other hand, personal or community-based contacts were the most important search method for 28% of those unemployed for less than 6 months (compared to only 9% of the long-term unemployed). It should also be noted that approximately 8% of job seekers considered direct approaches to employers to be their most important method of looking for work (7% of those unemployed for less than 6 months and 8% of the longterm unemployed). These figures demonstrate that government Job Centre facilities play only a marginal role in job search activities of short-term unemployed, compared with a long-term unemployed group who are much more reliant on public services. The greater reliance of the long-term unemployed on formal job search facilities provided by public agencies (perhaps reflecting a gradual decline in ‘spontaneous’ job seeking activity, or the lack of informal links in the first place) is further illustrated by Table 3. When asked about the source from which they learned of the last job they applied for, the majority amongst the long-term unemployed named the Job Centre or newspaper (35% and 22%, respectively). Those who had been unemployed for less than 6 months were much less likely to have used these methods (13% and 19%, respectively). Personal contacts alerted 42% of ‘recent’ job seekers to the last job vacancy that they had pursued, compared to only 33% of the long-term unemployed. The former group were also much more likely to have used ‘other’ sources (including the Internet, private recruitment agencies and local community or third-sector organisations) to identify their most recent job search targets.

Information source Newspapers Job centre Personal contacts Community contacts Direct approach Other Total (rounded)

Duration o6 months

Duration 6 months+

Total

19 13 42 10 5 11

22 35 33 2 7 1

21 27 36 5 6 5

100

100

100

There is considerable evidence to suggest that informal personal and social networks can play a vital role in successful job seeking (Granovetter, 1974, 1982; Hannan, 1999; Stoloff et al., 1999). Rural researchers have noted that in remote areas, personal networks tend to be even more important socially, but also denser and less inclusive (Halfacree, 1993; Beggs et al., 1996; Reimer, 1997). It is therefore often more difficult for job seekers to develop relationships with the diverse range of personal contacts required to provide sufficient access to job information, with particularly negative consequences for those who have been excluded from the labour market for prolonged periods. The findings highlight the importance of such informal networks in supplying rural job seekers with information about employment opportunities. It is of considerable interest that even amongst the long-term unemployed (who tend to be more reliant on ‘traditional’ search tools) informal networks at times appear at least as important as the assistance provided by the Employment Service (the main government agency dealing with job seekers, primarily through Job Centres). For those who have not reached the six months duration threshold, the ES appears to play an even more marginal role. However, these figures disguise an even clearer geographical division amongst job seekers. Respondents from Wick (where the northern Highland’s only Job Centre is located) were far more likely to have used the ES to identify their last targeted job than those from the more sparsely populated Sutherland area. Indeed, of the long-term unemployed respondents, 46% of those from Wick had used the ES to identify their last targeted job opportunity, compared to only 18% of those from Sutherland. At the same time, only 28% of Wick’s longterm job seekers had used personal or community contacts to identify their last targeted opportunity, compared to 48% of those from Sutherland. The findings also appear to confirm that informal networks remain of considerable importance in providing job seekers with information on employment opportunities in our study areas, although they vary

194

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geographically and by unemployment duration. Longterm unemployed people are less likely to be able to successfully access these networks, but still often rely upon informal sources in areas where there is a lack of ‘on the ground’ formal job search assistance. Yet, if we accept that disadvantaged groups, who are less likely to have a ‘strong foothold’ in the labour market (e.g. young people and the long-term unemployed), are also less likely to have full access to vital personal contacts, it might be argued that a coherent network of formal services will be required in order to assist these job seekers to find work. 4.3. ‘Context’ factors and barriers to work This paper has argued that problems accessing informal information networks, combined with the weakness of the formal service infrastructure in remote areas, may further disadvantage some already ‘excluded’ rural job seekers. However, the perception of unemployed people in our two study areas was that they faced even more profound demand-side barriers to work, of a type that could not be addressed by solely by advances in job search services (such as the use of information technology). Many job seekers were convinced that the greatest barriers to work that they faced were connected to local labour market conditions or institutionalised inequalities. Respondents strongly supported the idea that local economic conditions had contributed to their problems in finding work. More than 90% of both long-term and more recently unemployed people claimed that there were simply too few appropriate jobs available was a significant barrier to work. In particular the lack of sufficiently well paid job opportunities was considered to be an important barrier by almost 70% of those who had been unemployed for less than 6 months, and more than 80% of long-term job seekers. It is notable that respondents were far more likely to identify the perceived lack of appropriate opportunities within the local labour market as an important barrier to work, rather than gaps in the services offered by the Employment Service and other agencies seeking to place job seekers into those opportunities. However, significant minorities did consider ‘a lack of information about jobs’ (40% in total) and ‘inadequate assistance from the ES and other public agencies’ (32% in total) to be important barriers. Whilst one might expect the unemployed to be relatively pessimistic about labour market conditions given their recent experiences, there is evidence to suggest that in buoyant local economies even very long-term unemployed people tend to acknowledge that job opportunities do exist for appropriate candidates (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2002). The high proportions of both long- and short-term unemployed people expres-

sing their dissatisfaction with the number and quality of job opportunities in our study areas can therefore be largely explained by a genuine lack of labour demand within the local economy, and/or the deployment of selective job search strategies by job seekers (in terms of wage aspirations, geographical search area or targeted occupations). Local policy actors have pointed to the number of unfilled vacancies (particularly in service occupations) within the northern Highlands economy, arguing that for job seekers willing to display the required flexibility, opportunities remain available. Yet there is conflicting evidence as to whether job seekers are ‘pricing themselves out of the market’. When asked to specify the lowest acceptable ‘take home’ weekly wage which they would consider undertaking full-time work, a clear majority of long-term unemployed people (62%) and more recent job seekers (59%) named a figure below d200. People who owned their own homes were rather less likely to find wage rates below d200 to be acceptable (52%, compared to 67% of those living in public sector rented accommodation), perhaps reflecting the additional pressure of mortgage payments or previous higher incomes. The wage demands of many were therefore rather modest. However, it should also be noted that 23% of the pre-six months unemployment duration client group, and 14% of longer term job seekers, would not accept work that provided less than d250 per week, effectively excluding a substantial range of (especially low skilled) openings within the local labour market. This may partly be explained by the ‘Benefits Trap’, although many of the respondents would actually be financially better off, with support from Family Tax Credits. The issue of travel distances or times to jobs is fundamental in many rural areas. Some of the job seekers demonstrated limited flexibility when it came to their willingness to travel substantial distances to work. As Table 4 illustrates, around a third of both main client groups limited the area of their job search to within 10 miles of their home, and 59–60% would not consider opportunities more than 25 miles away. Given the

Table 4 Daily travelling distance to full-time job acceptable to respondents (%) Travelling area Immediate area only Less than 10 miles 10o25 miles 25o50 miles More than 50 miles Total (rounded) N=154.

Duration o6 months

Duration 6 months +

Total

5 25 30 23 18

4 29 26 22 19

5 27 27 22 18

100

100

100

C. Lindsay et al. / Journal of Rural Studies 19 (2003) 187–200

scattered location of many communities (particularly in Sutherland) and the more general remoteness of both travel-to-work areas, those who limited their job search to within a 25 miles radius were often in reality confining themselves to their immediate surrounding area only. The reluctance of many job seekers to travel beyond their immediate local area is rather more understandable when we consider that the majority of respondents did not have access to their own transport (73% of the longterm unemployed and 51% of more recently unemployed job seekers). A lack of access to private transport was considered to be an important barrier to work by 38% of the pre-six months client group and 54% of long-term job seekers (with the costs of accessing private transport identified as an important barrier by just over half of both groups). Approximately 33% of pre-six months duration job seekers and 28% of the long-term unemployed could not drive and wanted to learn to drive. Furthermore, 41% of both duration groups considered problems in accessing public transport to be an important barrier to work. The very similar preferences regarding travelling to work expressed by long-term and short-term unemployed people, despite the wide disparity in their ability to access transport, are clearly of note. This is likely to have had some impact on the respondents’ job search behaviour, and also helps explain the high percentage of people citing the problem of a lack of local opportunities, as by ‘local’ clearly many referred to a very small accessible area. However, the very real sense of exclusion felt by job seekers residing in isolated communities should not be underestimated. The absence of reliable, affordable, fast and frequent public transport links between remote communities and major towns in Caithness and Sutherland may have forced many to limit their job search to their immediate localities. This limiting of job search activities to local micro-labour markets characterised by sectoral fragility and small pools of employment opportunities is further exacerbated by a lack of privately owned transport (and in some cases driving skills) amongst job seekers. It is clear that the occupations targeted (or not targeted) by job seekers will impact upon their ability to identify and take opportunities within any local labour market. There was a degree of correlation between respondents’ primary job search targets and their former occupations in terms of general skill levels (see Tables 5 and 2 for comparison) but it is notable that many were primarily looking for work at a higher skill level than their former regular job. Indeed, a considerably greater proportion of long-term unemployed people seeking ‘skilled/semi-skilled’ posts (42%) compared to the number formerly employed in such jobs (29%). The number seeking ‘higher skilled/professional’ jobs was similar to those previously working in those types of job (14% and 15%, respectively). There was also an

195

Table 5 Skills level of primary job search target of respondents (%) Occupational skills level Higher skilled/ professional Skilled/semi-skilled Low-skilled/unskilled Total (rounded)

Duration o6 months

Duration 6 months +

Total

19

14

16

46 36

42 44

43 41

100

100

100

apparent drive to seek more skilled work by those unemployed for up to 6 months, although aimed more at higher-level jobs. While 10% of the short-term unemployed had previously held ‘higher skilled/professional’ regular jobs, some 19% were primarily looking for such jobs. It is also notable that 29% of all those who reported having been regularly employed in ‘lowskilled/unskilled’ posts were primarily targeting ‘semiskilled’ or even ‘higher skilled’ positions. This partially reflects the manner in which those who reported having no former occupation (many of whom had recently left full-time education) were more likely to target skilled jobs. It would appear that the opportunity to secure more stable and possibly better paid work may have prompted a number of job seekers to risk longer periods of unemployment by waiting for ‘better quality’ vacancies. Interestingly, significant proportions of both of the groups categorically ruled out considering entry-level service occupations. Yet these play an increasingly important role in providing employment in rural areas, and can act as a starting point from which individuals may later gain promotion. When asked about their attitude to service work (e.g. in the tourism, leisure or retail sectors) 36% of pre-six months duration job seekers and 39% of the long-term unemployed said that they would never consider pursuing such occupations. Men were more likely to respond negatively to service work—94% of those who ruled out working in services were males, despite men making up only 80% of our total sample. However, the reluctance of these job seekers to pursue service sector work may be explained as much by clients’ perceptions of the quality and salaries associated with these opportunities, as by traditionalist attitudes towards gender roles (Lloyd, 1999; McQuaid and Lindsay, 2002). Finally, a significant proportion of job seekers believed that employers discriminated against certain age groups (especially older people), or discriminated against the registered unemployed. The long-term unemployed were more likely to identify age-based discrimination as an important ‘external’ barrier to work (50% compared to 32% of more recent job seekers), although it is worth noting that the age profiles

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of the two groups were relatively similar (the average age of pre-six months duration respondents was 38 years, compared to 40 years for the long-term unemployed). Similarly, more than half of long-term unemployed respondents believed that they had been rejected for positions as a result of their unemployed status (51%, compared to 34% of more recent job seekers). In summary, the almost universal perception, held amongst job seekers from both short- and long-term unemployed and both study areas, was that a basic lack of opportunities restricted their ability to find employment. These findings cannot be dismissed as merely an attempt by respondents to project the responsibility for their continued unemployment on to external conditions. The majority of job seekers did not have access to their own transport, a crucial barrier to work in remote rural areas that in this case has not been addressed through the provision of the required public services. The inability of many respondents to access transport therefore compounded problems associated with the remoteness and small scale of the labour markets within which they were resident. However, the more general reluctance to travel substantial distances to work (irrespective of access to transport) might imply a degree insularity in some cases, as well as poor transport services. Similarly, the rejection of lower skilled opportunities by some whose experience was mostly in those occupations, and the categorical ruling out of service sector work by many men, suggests that it is possible that selective job search strategies may have restricted the number and type of opportunities coming under consideration by some respondents. The promotion of more inclusive and open job search strategies amongst clients should therefore be a priority for key service providers. Nevertheless, supply-side measures alone cannot address the fundamental lack of appropriate opportunities in isolated communities that are not close to major conurbations.

5. The ‘other’ context factor: labour demand and the role of employers For many job seekers, the informal recruitment methods deployed by employers and perceived discrimination against unemployed applicants were perceived to be important barriers to work. Accordingly, in-depth interviews were carried out with 17 small, medium and large-scale employers in order to further investigate their attitudes towards the unemployed and their recruitment and selection procedures (with particular reference to entry-level positions). While the sample of employers was limited, it did include the three largest employers in the local area. Other interviewees were purposively selected in order to ensure representation from key

sectors of the local economy, including engineering, energy, tourism and aquaculture. Together the employers accounted for roughly half of local jobs.4 When seeking to advertise recent opportunities, most employers used a combination of: local newspapers, the Job Centre, and word of mouth. However, some smaller firms rarely formally advertised vacancies, instead selecting from a continuous stream of candidates making informal, speculative applications. For the vast majority of the employers, and all the private sector enterprises (irrespective of size) such speculative applications were welcomed (although this was used by relatively few job seekers). In general terms, ‘word of mouth’ was considered to be an integral part of the recruitment process. Several respondents suggested that, given the size of the local labour pool, such informal procedures provided the best means of screening potential recruits—the majority of whom would be known to the recruiter or at least one trusted staff member. In comparison, many (particularly smallmedium sized) employers appeared to be reluctant to rely upon the ES Job Centre, which was perceived as constantly offering ‘the same pool of people’ for interview, who tended to have been unemployed for longer periods or were otherwise ‘inappropriate’. There were some indications that employers’ reliance on informal recruitment procedures might result in disadvantage for those with weak social networks. One piece of anecdotal evidence was that a recruitment manager at an SME engaged in manufacturing work stressed that an applicant’s ‘pedigree’ (apparently referring to family reputation, and particularly the work record of the individual’s father) was the most important factor influencing hiring decisions. Most employer-respondents stressed the importance of newspaper advertising, but generally as a means of communicating the existence of vacancies. Respondents from micro-enterprises, SMEs and larger organisations all suggested that while newspaper advertising was a useful medium for disseminating vacancy information, word of mouth and personal recommendations ultimately ensured that the ‘right person’ was selected for individual posts. Formal advertising was therefore often used in combination with informal networks during the selection process. Informal social networks have been identified as playing a particularly important role in recruitment within rural labour markets (Monk et al., 2000; Shucksmith, 2000b). These findings (although account must be taken of the small sample size) appear to confirm that even larger rural enterprises often rely 4

The sample included seven large organisations (with more than 250 employees), two of which were public sector employers, two mediumsized enterprises (50–250 employees), seven small enterprises (10–49) and one micro-enterprise (less than 10 employees). The sample of employers was selected to reflect local employment structures.

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upon successful candidates being a ‘known quantity’, rather than applying more rigorous methods of selection. The candidate attributes valued by employer-respondents included: recent work experience; job specific skills; evidence of reliability; effective team working; and (in some cases) basic literacy and numeracy skills. For many employers, however, it was most important that candidates demonstrated a positive attitude and a ‘willingness to work’. This indicates the importance of the school education system to providing basic skills and influencing ‘positive’ attitudes towards learning and working. Several respondents stressed their organisation’s readiness to ‘carry’ any other skills deficiencies affecting successful candidates, if these basic attributes were in place. In some cases, this affected recruiters’ attitudes towards the unemployed (and particularly the long-term unemployed). Two-fifths of employer-respondents expressed the view that many long-term unemployed people simply ‘didn’t want to work’. Others made no such assumption, but there was a common perception that long-term unemployed people were likely to be less effective and require more support than other candidates. Accordingly, although the vast majority of respondents suggested that candidates would not be automatically ‘ruled out’ by their long-term unemployed status, the prioritisation of recent work experience, and the perception amongst employers that the long-term unemployed were less able (and in some cases less willing) than other job seekers may suggest the potential for discrimination against this already disadvantaged group. This suggests that initiatives to provide longterm unemployed people with ‘real’ work experience, that is recognised and valued by potential employers, may have an important role to play in labour market inclusion strategies. More generally, the extensive use of informal methods, and particularly personal recommendations, when making hiring decisions has the potential to exclude groups such as young people and the long-term unemployed, who can struggle to access the social networks through which opportunities are communicated and allocated in remote rural areas. Informal methods have long been acknowledged as playing an important role in the recruitment practices of smaller firms (Atkinson and Meager, 1994; Carroll et al., 1999). It might be argued that the central role of ownerdirectors in the recruitment process within smaller enterprises in part explains the far more informal approach adopted by such companies to the advertising of vacancies and the appointment of staff. Within our sample, it was unsurprising to find that where recruitment was the responsibility of a single individual, formalised procedures were less likely to be followed. However, the above findings suggest that in remote rural

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areas, informal social networks, word of mouth and personal recommendation are particularly important to job seekers and recruiters, large and small, alike. Many unemployed people in the two study areas expressed concern that this further undermined their ability to compete in the labour market. There would appear to be some justification for these concerns.

6. Discussion and conclusions 6.1. Unemployment duration, employability and the rural context The findings in this paper confirm that many job seekers, and particularly the long-term unemployed, have significant gaps in their skills and work experience, limiting their employability. There are also apparent gaps in the basic educational attainment of many unemployed people, a finding reflecting the need for secondary and further education providers to work with key agencies such as the Employment Service to identify and address adult learning needs (for example, in basic literacy and numeracy). So-called ‘deployment’ issues (such as job search strategies) are also affected by unemployment duration, with long-term unemployed people rather less likely to have strong links to the social networks regularly used by others as a means of both recruitment and job seeking. In more remote areas this form of exclusion may be compounded by the absence of formal job search and counselling services provided elsewhere by the Employment Service and other agencies. However, the remote rural context appears to generate additional barriers to work for job seekers, regardless of unemployment duration or personal employability assets. Even for those who possess private transport, travelling beyond their immediate locality is problematic given their extreme remoteness from job opportunities. For those struggling to find work in their own community, commuting daily to towns or cities where there are more opportunities is often not a realistic alternative. Many are forced to choose between risking a prolonged period without work and leaving the area altogether. Turning to more conceptual issues, the Hillage– Pollard employability framework provides a useful tool for exploratory policy analysis in remote rural labour markets. By disaggregating the concept, and comparing the experiences and attributes of job seekers across a range or ‘core components of employability’, we can better understand the particular form of multi-dimensional disadvantage faced by many long-term unemployed people, and the more general barriers to work faced by all job seekers given a specific geographical, institutional and labour market context. However, the

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emphasis on the personal aspects of employability within the Hillage–Pollard framework (and other similar models) may limit attempts to arrive at genuinely holistic understanding of the concept. The focus on individuals’ skills and attributes in the current literature to an extent reflects the priorities of policy makers— government policies such as the New Deal are described as ‘employability-focussed’ but retain a strong supplyside bias. As we have seen above, problems associated with the rural context present their own equally profound barriers to work. Consequently, there is a need for a reconsideration of the concept of employability. A broad concept of employability must adequately express the importance of labour market conditions and issues of accessibility— key factors affecting the job search success of unemployed people in remote rural areas. Similarly, any attempt to address employability issues in rural labour markets must acknowledge the role of social networking in these communities. As noted above, informal social networks provide a crucial source of information for recruiters and job seekers alike. Network size, access and depth, and the role of key connectors between clusters of the unemployed and potential employers, would therefore appear to be an important determinant of employability for rural job seekers. These findings concur with recent research that has noted the importance of networks for both economic (and thus employment) interactions within rural labour markets, and policies to promote development in these areas (Murdoch, 2000; Kneafsey et al., 2001). Murdoch (2000) particularly emphasises the importance of ‘horizontal networks’ for rural development. There is evidence that successful rural areas embrace innovation rather than simply participating in development, and that innovation is fuelled by strong networks of mutual trust and collaboration or ‘associational capacity’ (Cooke and Morgan, 1998; Nel and McQuaid, 2002). These networks, which transcend traditional institutional arrangements, are nonetheless rooted in ‘locally inherited resources’. Where viable ‘industrial districts’ have emerged in rural areas, the division of labour within agricultural enterprises (enabling innovation) and the extensive networks of small enterprises (enabling the further development of network capital) have had an important role to play. However, while networks may be essential for rural development, the above findings illustrate the potential dangers if some groups in the labour market do not have access to network capital. There is a clear need to link the concept of employability (when used within the rural context) to issues of network access (for individuals) and network capital (referring to relations and development strategies within the wider economy). The same elements need to be ‘joined up’ more effectively within and between

policies to promote employability and employment in rural areas—a subject to which we now, finally, turn. 6.2. Towards an employability policy agenda A number of general conclusions can be drawn as to potential areas for future policy action. Training strategies seeking to offer a combination of basic education, skills development and work experience are justified in targeting disadvantaged groups such as the long-term unemployed, but a similar level of commitment to the delivery of holistic, community-based services for all job seekers is required. Local services, combining the job search assistance currently provided by Employment Service Programme Centres with an emphasis on social interaction and peer support, may be one way of preventing unemployment from giving way to deeper forms of social exclusion in isolated rural areas. By making such a commitment to dealing directly with unemployed clients’ needs, key public agencies may be able to bridge the gap between the currently limited role for formal job search services and the informal networks which are predominant in recruitment and job allocation in rural areas. An approach that empowers local professionals to deliver a range of communitybased interventions may result in the emergence of services which combine the best elements of informal networking and formal job placement provision, within projects offering social support for the individual and a focal point for rural communities. Community level partnerships, drawing resources and expertise from a range of bodies, offer some hope of overcoming the problems faced by the many job seekers who are currently caught between their lack of strong social network relations and the absence of formal public services in remote areas. Measures to promote employability assets and labour market inclusion must also be ‘joined up’ with innovative approaches to rural economic development. There is a need for the continuation and expansion of demand-side policies in remote rural labour markets, but in areas such as Wick and Sutherland, where industrial, transport and service infrastructures are weak, exogenous investment to support the development of the socio-economic base is clearly also required. To this end, local enterprise programmes facilitating endogenous business development and exogenous infrastructure investment must be combined with demand responsive transport initiatives and measures to promote ICT access and use—specific policies which are crucial in addressing the fundamental problems of distance faced by both individuals and enterprises in these areas. The main aim of British active labour market policies is to reduce long-term unemployment by addressing gaps in the employability assets of members of specific

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client groups. The above findings partially support such an approach. However, the current supply-side oriented strategy is a necessary but not sufficient element within a broader employability policy agenda for remote rural labour markets. This approach must be combined with policies addressing circumstantial and external labour market barriers. Only be developing a coherent strategy linking employment access and economic development policies can we hope to arrive at solutions that will raise the employability of job seekers and ensure that sustainable job opportunities are available within remote rural labour markets.

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We acknowledge the support of Anne Sutherland at Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, Gordon Todd at The Highland Council, the European Social Fund and staff at Wick Jobcentre. We would also like to thank all those job seekers, employers and others who assisted with the research. Finally, our thanks to ONS Geography GIS and Mapping Unit for providing the map in Fig. 1.

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