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Housing and Planning

In the Media
Prof. Len Shackleton appears on Times Radio
18 May 2023

Uncategorized
20 January 2026
Prof. Len Shackleton writes for The Express
IEA Labour Market Expert Professor Len Shackleton has written in The Daily Express discussing new labour market data which contained warning signs for the health of the UK’s employment prospects.
Len wrote:
“There are also some worrying trends below the surface: public sector employment as a share of total employment continues to rise, while women’s employment slipped back compared to men’s.
“And any employment growth seems to be associated with non-UK nationals, whose numbers in work rose by over 370,000 since the end of last year.
“Meanwhile, far too many working-age Brits sit it out on the touchline. Indeed the UK economy resembles a poorly-performing football team whose manager is about to be sacked.
“Although gaffer Rishi is not short of strikers – indeed last month saw our biggest total since the 1980s – one of his problems is that too many players are sitting out the game in the stands.”
Read Len’s full piece here.
Len wrote:
“There are also some worrying trends below the surface: public sector employment as a share of total employment continues to rise, while women’s employment slipped back compared to men’s.
“And any employment growth seems to be associated with non-UK nationals, whose numbers in work rose by over 370,000 since the end of last year.
“Meanwhile, far too many working-age Brits sit it out on the touchline. Indeed the UK economy resembles a poorly-performing football team whose manager is about to be sacked.
“Although gaffer Rishi is not short of strikers – indeed last month saw our biggest total since the 1980s – one of his problems is that too many players are sitting out the game in the stands.”
Read Len’s full piece here.



