Case Studies / Data
Generating insights to aid the government’s regional business network in achieving its skills transformation vision
70k+
registered businesses across various sectors analysed
13
local authorities across which data was aggregated
The client was preparing content for the annual Local Skills Improvement Plan report for their region. This government initiative focuses on revamping the skills system, with the aim of giving local businesses a stronger voice in the planning process to address relevant opportunities and challenges. Key findings on skills, employment, and businesses in the region, both quantitative and qualitative, will inform supporting documents for the report.
The client needed help organizing and visualizing raw data from different sources to extract insights. Alirity was tasked with summarizing data for four sections of the local skills report:
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Conducting qualitative analysis of approximately 20 reports to identify trends, challenges, and priorities within the regional skills and labour market.
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Gathering publicly available data from sources and creating visual representations to summarize current labour market trends.
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Analysing data and creating visuals to offer insights into current patterns across eight key industry sectors.
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Cleaning, sorting and presenting data collected from survey respondents working within local businesses.
Each of the four analyses required a distinct approach based on the availability of source data and the type of analysis:
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For the first report, a straightforward review and reformatting of the source data were conducted to facilitate the analysis.
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The second report involved querying the source database to extract relevant raw data for the selected regions. Data from the previous year was extracted as a control measure to ensure consistency. The raw data was then restructured to support the creation of data visualizations.
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The third report necessitated qualitative analysis, involving reading, understanding, and extracting key points from various research papers. This process enabled the identification of key trends and themes across the jobs and skills market.
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The final data set included responses to 20+ questions from 100+ local businesses across a range of industries. We identified anomalies and removed duplicate responses, then presented analysis on respondents’ thoughts on topics such as training needs, skills supply and Net Zero objectives.
Upon completion of the analysis, the source data, reformatted data, and visuals were shared with the client for validation against the original data.
The client was happy with our analysis, which was integrated into the final reports.
Highlights included:
- Positive feedback: We met the client’s timelines and received praise for the quality and timeliness of our work.
- Repeatability: We explored automating parts of the analysis for future reports, as the local skills reports are updated annually. This can be achieved through simple data reformatting.
- New insights: We delivered all requested visuals and offered extra insights based on the available data.