Belfast Labour Market Partnership

How we developed the Belfast Labour Market Partnership

The Belfast Labour Market Partnership (LMP) is focused on improving Belfast’s employability outcomes and labour market conditions by working with a wide range of partners, being flexible to meet local needs and helping to connect employers with employees. We developed the partnership with funding from the Department for Communities (DfC) and Department for the Economy (DfE). 

Working with stakeholder groups

We work with a wide range of stakeholder groups to consider four areas when deciding how to support the development of Belfast’s labour market:

• supply (people)
• demand (employment)
• provision (education, training and support programmes)
• policy

This gives us the information we need to:

• develop a Belfast Labour Market Partnership action plan tailored to the city’s labour market needs
• agree the city’s sector and industry specific needs
• review supply and demand levels to identify gaps and challenges; and
• commission the support required.

More information on Belfast Labour Market Partnership

You can read a summary of our 2023-2024 action plan here:

2023-2024 action plan

Or email lmp@belfastcity.gov.uk

Key areas of focus

During 2023 and 2024, we’ll be focusing on a range of activities which will help to:

• reduce Belfast’s working-age economic inactivity rate
• reduce youth unemployment (18 to 24 years old) in the city
• increase the median wage in the city
• increase the percentage of working-age adults with disabilities employed in Belfast

Multiply initiatives in Belfast

Belfast Labour Market Partnership has received funding for a range of UK Multiply programme initiatives from the Department for the Economy. Multiply supports the Economic Vision for a regionally balanced economy with good jobs and increased productivity which delivers on decarbonisation.

Numeracy is a vital skill and the £5.9 million Multiply programme will boost the competence and confidence of over 3,000 adults and enhance their opportunities for further training and employment.

Multiply is being delivered by further education colleges, universities and local councils in collaboration with the community and voluntary sector.

If you’d like to develop your numeracy skills, please contact the following organisations which have been awarded funding to run Multiply projects in Belfast:

If you have any general queries about the Multiply programme, email lmp@belfastcity.gov.uk

This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (link opens in new window), a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda, providing £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.