Labour Market Information for Literacy Programs
The Essential Skills of Labour Market Information
What is labour market information (LMI) and how can it help literacy programs?
Labour Market Information (LMI) describes any type of information used to make informed decisions about the labour market. Good LMI can also tell us about what type of occupations are currently in demand, how much money could be earned in a particular job, where the local job vacancies can be found, and what might be the ‘hot jobs’ be when they leave education
Literacy and Basic Skills programs can benefit from LMI as a learner or instructor can use LMI to help inform employment or educational goals. Instructors and literacy practitioners can also use LMI for setting learner goals and developing lesson plans
More specifically, LMI can assist learners to get answers to the following questions:
What jobs and skills employers in Toronto are looking for?
Which industries (e.g., manufacturing) are hiring?
What education, credentials and certificates have value with employers?
What jobs are employers having challenges in filling?
Which occupations and industries are likely to grow in the foreseeable future?
In summary, LMI provides help to learners and instructors when thinking about what current and future employment opportunities might hold.
Points to Consider:
LMI by itself, can only help learners to make decisions.
A learner should always consider what types of work activities they like to do.
If a particular job or career is appealing, it might not be realistic if the qualification(s) are challenging and/or require significant financial and time commitments
labour market forecasts (job opportunities in the future) are not always reliable and should be viewed carefully.
