Understand key contemporary labour market trends and their significance for workforce planning.

About this package

This package examines how organisations compete for workers and use labour market evidence to plan their workforce. It connects two related questions: why people choose one employer over another, and how changing labour availability affects recruitment, retention and development. Learners consider both an organisation’s current competitive position and the workforce capabilities it may need in the future, rather than treating each vacancy as an isolated staffing problem. The first part focuses on strategic positioning in competitive labour markets. Learners explore how to identify talent competitors, including employers in different sectors seeking similar skills, and compare their employee experiences. It examines what makes an organisation an employer of choice, how financial and non-financial rewards interact with culture, and why an employment offer must be credible and sustainable. Employer branding and the employee value proposition are considered alongside organisational image, ethics and reputation, showing why recruitment messages need to reflect the experience of working there. The second part examines tight and loose labour markets and their implications for staffing decisions. Learners consider how candidate availability, skills shortages and competition affect recruitment and retention. They also explore workforce requirements through changes in occupational demand, tasks and labour supply. The distinction between expansion demand and replacement demand helps explain why recruitment may still be necessary when an occupation is declining, and why current vacancy numbers alone are not enough for planning. Political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental analysis provides a framework for interpreting the forces behind labour market change. The package connects these influences with changing working patterns, critical incidents, national and international pressures, and global crises. Its practical focus is on tracing external developments to specific staffing consequences, then choosing proportionate responses through recruitment methods, retention strategies, employee development or organisational restructuring. Learners bring these considerations together to formulate evidence-based resourcing recommendations for immediate priorities and longer-term workforce needs.

Who it’s for

This package suits HR and people professionals, recruitment and resourcing staff, and learners studying workforce planning. It is particularly relevant to those who need to analyse labour market conditions and explain their implications for organisational decisions.

What’s covered

1. Analysing talent competitors’ employee experience

   Identify employers competing for the same workers, even where they operate in different sectors. Compare what employees experience when joining, being managed, developing and carrying out everyday work to identify competitive strengths and weaknesses.

2. Positioning an organisation as an employer of choice

   Explore how an organisation establishes a distinctive employment offer for the workers it needs. Consider what it can offer particularly well, who will value that offer and whether it can sustain the promised experience.

3. Reward preferences and culture in employer positioning

   Examine total reward, including financial and non-financial returns from employment, alongside organisational culture. Consider why attractive pay alone may not secure workers whose preferences conflict with the way work is organised or rewarded.

4. Building a credible employer brand

   Explore employer branding and the employee value proposition as ways of communicating an organisation’s employment offer. Examine why advertising, employees’ accounts and candidate treatment need to support a consistent and credible identity.

5. Organisational image, ethics and reputation

   Distinguish an organisation’s current image from its reputation built over time. Consider how perceptions of conduct and trustworthiness influence whether people join, stay or want to be associated with an employer.

6. Comparing tight and loose labour markets

   Compare the balance of employer demand and available labour in tight and loose markets. Examine the implications for suitable candidate availability, competition for workers, offer acceptance and employee retention.

7. Interpreting labour and skills trends

   Explore how occupational demand, changing tasks and future labour supply inform workforce size and capability requirements. Distinguish expansion demand from replacement demand to understand recruitment needs beyond current vacancies.

8. Translating labour market drivers into resourcing decisions

   Use PESTLE analysis to examine external influences on labour demand and supply. Connect trends, disruption and changing working patterns to staffing consequences, then consider responses through recruitment, retention, development, restructuring and longer-term planning.

Learning outcomes

By completing this package, learners can:

• Compare tight and loose labour markets in terms of labour availability, skills shortages, competition for talent and implications for workforce planning.
• Analyse trends in labour and skills demand and supply using political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors.
• Apply competitor analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses in competitors’ employee experiences and opportunities for organisational differentiation.
• Explain how reward approaches, organisational culture and employee experience contribute to an organisation’s positioning as an employer of choice.
• Assess how employer branding, organisational image, ethics and reputation influence an organisation’s ability to attract and retain workers.
• Explain how changing labour market conditions influence the selection of recruitment methods, employer branding activities and retention strategies.
• Analyse the implications of changing working patterns and methods for resourcing, organisational restructuring and workforce development decisions.
• Evaluate how critical incidents, national and international pressures, and global crises affect immediate resourcing priorities and long-term workforce planning.
• Formulate evidence-based resourcing recommendations that align an organisation’s competitive labour market position with current and anticipated workforce needs.

Frequently asked questions

Related training packages