Whether you're hiring, expanding, or planning future skills investment, the evidence-based report helps you make informed decisions in a fast-evolving economy.

Arthur Le Geyt, Research Manager at Buckinghamshire Business First, has compiled an overview of the report.

A Dynamic, Multi-Sector Economy

Buckinghamshire’s economy is refreshingly diverse. No single sector dominates, giving businesses resilience and flexibility.

Key highlights:

• Health and Social Care is the largest sector by employment.
• High employment in education, ICT, construction, and creative industries.
• The proportion of employment in the local wholesale sector is twice the national average.
• Growing employment in specialist clusters like pharmaceuticals, production tech, and precision engineering.
• Strategic sectors such as film & TV, high-performance engineering, space, and life sciences account for 7% of all jobs - a strong foundation for innovation-led growth.

Recruitment Realities: Skills Shortages & Hard-to-Fill Roles

Hiring remains a challenge:

• 61% of vacancies were hard to fill (above the national average) in 2024.
• Skills shortages are most acute in associate professional and skilled trade roles.
• Sectors like manufacturing, health, and construction face the longest vacancy durations, suggesting they are harder to fill.

Contributing factors include:

• Residents commuting to London for work
• Limited access to transport, particularly for the young
• Housing affordability
• Wage competition with London

Opportunities for employers: Consider inclusive recruitment (including people with disabilities), local partnerships with schools and training providers, and participate in the Buckinghamshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) to ensure relevant training is delivered locally.

Workforce Participation: Strong but Uneven

Buckinghamshire boasts high economic activity rates, with residents more likely to be employed than the national average. However, challenges with participation remain.

• Around 7% of working-age residents want to work but are not currently employed.
• There is lower employment among people with disabilities, limited English, or unpaid care duties.
• Buckinghamshire’s unemployment and claimant count rates appear to have edged up in the year to June 2025, though final confirmation is pending.

Opportunities for employers: Inclusive hiring practices and targeted outreach could unlock untapped local talent pools.

Skills Pipeline: Strengths and Gaps

• Buckinghamshire has a highly qualified workforce, but apprenticeship uptake is low.
• Young adults often leave the county for university - 53% of 16–18-year-olds continue to higher education, compared to 38% nationally.
• Popular study areas include business, retail, health, medicine, and education.

Future skills priorities:

• Management and leadership
• Digital and AI literacy
• Entrepreneurial and employability skills
• Targeting upskilling for health & care, engineering, skilled trades, teaching, and technician roles.

Opportunities for employers: Access the comprehensive support system for workforce development in Buckinghamshire, and offer work experience to build young people's work readiness.

Local Action: Skills Improvement in Motion

Following the production of the Buckinghamshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) in 2023, several initiatives are already underway. The £2.5 million Local Skills Improvement Fund has been used to fund the following projects:

• Project 1: Construction – New facilities are being developed at Buckinghamshire College Group (BCG) to create new full-time, part-time and apprenticeship provision for the Construction sector. 
• Project 2: Engineering – BCG will develop a Buckinghamshire Engineering Hub to provide hitherto unavailable full-time, part-time and apprenticeship provision in mechanical and electrical engineering. 
• Project 3: Health & Social Care – A pilot is underway for an innovative Volunteering Skills Record with Buckinghamshire Health & Social Care Academy to develop work-readiness skills with potential across all sectors. 
• Project 4: Tutor development – A programme to develop the capability to support the transition of technically skilled professionals from industry into teaching roles is in progress. 
• Project 5: Skills brokerage and support – Support to Buckinghamshire businesses, in partnership with Buckinghamshire Business First, to identify skills challenges and refer to training providers. 

Find out how the LSIP could help your business thrive >

Access the full Labour Market and Skills Analysis report on the Buckinghamshire Economic Observatory website.