Career change

What is career change?

Career change can be voluntary or involuntary with external factors impacting an individual within the labour force. Seeking career change can provide those in lower paid, inflexible and less secure jobs the opportunity for 'better' jobs – something which links in with one of the pillars of the Economy Minister’s Economic Vision. Also, career change provides a way for working individuals to move in tandem with the changing nature of the labour market following events such as redundancies, economic shocks and technological advancements. The transition to a new career is not always seamless and in many cases, can require upskilling.

As a percentage of employment, in Northern Ireland, 3% of those aged 16+ were seeking a new or additional job compared to 5.7% in the UK in 2024 Q2 (UUEPC, LMI Dashboard, 2024). There has been a downward trend in those seeking a new or additional job in both Northern Ireland and the UK, falling from 4.9% (2019) and 7.1% respectively.

Out of the UK regions, Northern Ireland has the smallest proportion of those seeking a new or additional job. Furthermore, it is our younger age groups who are more likely to change, with 16-34 year olds (4.8%) largely more likely to be seeking new or alternative employment compared to 35-49 year olds (2.6%) and 50-64 year olds (1.6%) (UUEPC, LMI Dashboard, 2024).

Career change can occur by moving within the current sector or by switching sectors. The latter proves to be more popular with analysis by the Learning and Work Institute showing that in Northern Ireland, 56.9% of job switches were to another sector, whilst 43.1% were within the same sector. Moves to and within the hospitality sector were the highest in Northern Ireland of any UK region (Learning and Work Institute, New Futures Four Nations Northern Ireland Briefing Paper).

Benefits for job changers

Aside from the opportunities for more secure employment, with better job quality and increasing flexibility, the most prevalent benefit of a career change is an increase in wages. In Northern Ireland, job changers have had consistently higher wage growth than job stayers (Figure 1), with a gap of 9.6 percentage points in 2021(ONS, Job changers and stayers reference table, April 2012 to April 2021).

(Source: ONS, Job changers and stayers reference table, April 2012 to April 2021.)

Additionally, collaborative analysis by The Resolution Foundation in The Economy 2030 Inquiry report, showed that there is a strong link between job changers and productivity. Job changers are important to the economic performance of higher productivity sectors, with the study stating that for good firms or higher productivity sectors to grow, workers need to move to them.

However, it must be noted that whilst wage growth for job switchers is higher than for job stayers, annual hourly earnings for job stayers remain higher on average. Those who remained in their current job earned £2.61 per hour more on average in the UK in April 2021 (ONS, Job changers and stayers, understanding earnings, UK: April 2012 to April 2021). The skills and experience gained from staying in a job long-term can result in higher earnings, combined with the more secure nature of longer-term employment.

Barriers to career change

Despite the benefits of career change and the positive impacts on the individual and businesses in the long-term, barriers still remain. The most common barrier tends to be financial with those facing the opportunity cost of lower wages whilst in retraining. It is therefore important that individuals are provided with various branches of support when changing career.

Higher skills make it easier to switch jobs and therefore, change careers. However, anecdotal evidence from a study by The Social Market Foundation shows that the link between higher skills and switching can be off-putting to some employers who will either not offer training or only offer it to higher income workers so as not to increase lower income worker’s scope to switch jobs (The Social Market Foundation, Job Switching and Wage Growth for Low Income Workers, 2020). This, combined with Northern Ireland’s high proportion of lower skilled individuals (41% with low or no qualifications) and low proportion of adults in education or training (17.6%) can present a barrier to those wishing to change careers (NISRA, Highest qualification and participation in education and training, 2023).

Upskilling and training opportunities

Whilst there are no specific provisions for career change, there are numerous upskilling and retraining programmes available in Northern Ireland. These broader skills plans typically aim to retrain older workers, upskill workers with lower qualifications and increase provisions for training in sectors which are growing strongly or facing skills shortages. Below are some of the programmes funded by the Department for the Economy, all of which can be directly linked to the Economic Vision for good jobs

Skill Up

A renewal of the previously run programme of short courses and qualifications from level one up to postgraduate, all of which are free and aimed at over 18s. The courses are facilitated by local Further and Higher Education Institutions and focus on subjects in priority sectors. This programme breaks barriers to career change by giving individuals the opportunity to upskill without the financial trade off. For more information see: Skill Up - nidirect

Assured Skills Academies

These are pre-employment training programmes. The programmes are short and fully funded, again helping with the trade off some face when looking to upskill. The programme offers short pre-employment training courses, designed in partnership with industry to give you the skills needed to compete for new employment opportunities in a range of exciting sectors. A programme which not only benefits the individual but also benefits local businesses. For more information see: Assured Skills Academies - nidirect

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships offer an alternative pathway to qualifications and employment in Levels 2 – 3 and in Higher Level Apprenticeships (Level 4 – 7). An opportunity to “earn while you learn” is a more flexible way to upskill that can meet the needs of certain individuals. For more information visit: Apprenticeships - nidirect

Traineeships

The Traineeship programme provides a high-quality vocational education and training programme, including structured work-based learning, to people who are not yet in employment or not yet working in their chosen occupational area. This programme gives employers the opportunity to teach trainees job specific skills which are aligned with their industry. This in turn can provide opportunities for employers to upskill their current employees in their coaching and mentoring skills to support the trainee. For more information, visit: How to access a traineeship for employers - nibusinessinfo

Skills Focus

This is a funded programme facilitating the collaborate effort of businesses and the six further education colleges to provide tailored skills to SMEs (small and medium enterprises). This programme increases the skills and employability of current employees to Level 2 and above, meeting business needs and benefiting employees. For more information, visit: Further education: skills development programmes - nibusinessinfo

For further information on other skills programmes, NI Skills Council, and the Careers Service, visit: DfE employment and skills programmes and Careers Service