To ask the Minister for the Economy (i) for his assessment of staff shortages across all industry sectors; and (ii) what new steps he is taking to help (a) businesses find employees; and (b) people who are unemployed to find work.

(i) Data published by the Office of National Statistics highlights that approximately two in five businesses (38.2%) in Northern Ireland were experiencing difficulties recruiting employees in April 2022 which is broadly in line with the UK average of 38.9%. Whilst no sectoral breakdown is provided and no official data exists, I am aware of worker shortages reported across a number of sectors including Agri-food, Hospitality, Construction, Manufacturing, ICT and Health and Social Care.

As evidenced through the monthly economic updates produced by my Department, unemployment has continued to decline over the last six months to the joint lowest on record (2.3%). This is coupled with higher than normal levels of advertised job vaccancies, highlightling an increasingly tight labour market in Northern Ireland.

(ii) (a) In March 2022, my Department published the new Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, ‘Skills for a 10x Economy’. The Strategy focuses on three major policy objectives:

Addressing skills imbalances, driving economic growth;

Creating a culture of lifelong learning; and

Enhancing digital skills, developing our digital spine.

Successful implementation of ‘Skills for a 10x Economy’ over the next decade will ensure that Northern Ireland’s citizens and businesses increasingly have access to modern economically relevant skills that will empower them to reach their full potential and improve competitiveness on the global stage.

(ii) (b) My Department continues to work collaboratively with the Department for Communities in the development and provision of skills-based interventions which support the unemployed to engage/re-engage with the labour market. This includes support and participation in a range of emerging initatives such as ‘Labour Market Partnerships’, the Disability Employment Strategy and refreshed approaches to addressing economic inactivity.