Cambridge City Council has welcomed the report which highlights the city’s economic potential, skills and innovation.
This year’s report has a focus on the impact on jobs of automation and globalisation and the likely increase in job opportunities these will bring. It also points out that these could lead to job losses in UK cities, although Cambridge and Oxford are named as the two cities likely to lose the fewest jobs.
Key findings for Cambridge in the report include:
- Nearly 50% of jobs predicted to increase in Cambridge are in high skilled private sector occupations. The large numbers of high skilled private sector jobs in the city will also help it to attract more jobs in new industries and occupations which emerge in the future
- Cambridge ranks number one for innovation as measured by patents per head of population
- Cambridge has the highest proportion of people with the highest level qualifications
- Cambridge has the lowest youth unemployment rate, and the second lowest unemployment rate overall
- Cambridge is ranked third worst for housing affordability
Cllr Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “This report offers further evidence that Cambridge is a high performing city. It is particularly good news that innovative Cambridge researchers and businesses are expected to create more skilled jobs in the area in coming years.
“Our status as a highly skilled, innovative city with flourishing businesses is great news for local people as well as the local, regional and national economy. The city’s strengths in the industries of the future will stand Cambridge in good stead.
“All of this success, as welcome as it is, presents wider challenges, not least in ensuring that prosperity is shared widely and is sustainable. Cambridge is still ranked as ‘the most unequal city in the UK’, and has seen a drop in real wages over the last year.
“There are immediate economic challenges facing Cambridge including free trade and free movement of people between Cambridge and Europe, which could be unavoidably damaged by whatever happens on Brexit.
“It is clear from listening to local businesses large and small that they already face major challenges in recruiting the people they need. While that may sound good news it shows how singularly dependent Cambridge is on continuing to attract and retain skilled staff in their hundreds as well as training up our own people.”
Cllr Herbert added: “The council will also continue to invest in sharing prosperity and will work with our partners in the business and academic communities, through the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Combined Authority, to do all we can to address challenges including congestion and a severe housing affordability and cost of living crisis.”
The Centre for Cities’ new report, ‘Cities Outlook 2018’ is the latest of their series of annual reports that provide hard evidence of how cities are performing across a range of key facts.
You can read the full report on the Centre For Cities website here: www.centreforcities.org/publication/cities-outlook-2018