Connectivity and labour markets in the Northern Powerhouse

Working with Cambridge Econometrics, SDG Economic Development has been commissioned to examine how future changes in the labour market will flow through into different requirements of transport infrastructure in the North of England.

The study involves detailed work to assess the likely future changes in markets and technologies, and how these are likely to drive changes in business and service activity in terms of skills and occupations. These changes, and the earning potentials they are likely to translate into, are then being linked with workers’ propensity to travel – the thesis being that the more workers earn, the greater their willingness to travel - and how such change patterns of commuting might then define new patterns of labour flow.

The final step in the work is to provide thoughts on how such new patterns might shape plans for transport infrastructure provision in the Northern Powerhouse.