• Almost 7 million people live in London, and 4.7 million of those are of working age.



• Nearly 75% of London's firms are sole traders - they have no employees.




Sole traders (0 employees)	nearly 75%
1-49 employees	nearly 25%
50-199 employees	0.6%
200+	0.2%




• That said, 59% of employment in London was in firms with more than 200 employees.



• 70% of the economy in London is represented by the private sector. That said, there are up to 5,000 social enterprises and 48,000 registered charities, plus 40,000 voluntary and community groups; in fact the voluntary and community sector employs over 200,000 people. Phew!



• London's 3.5 million employed residents take 75% of the jobs in London; commuters take the rest.



• Finally, London's key industries tend to form clusters in various parts of the city, since they all benefit from being near other types of business. For example, Croydon tends to be home to back-office and headquarters; financial services are based very much in the City and Docklands; Hammersmith and Heathrow are home to tourism and transport, ICT and Technology. 30% of London's jobs are located in the central business district, covering 2% of the capital's land.

So which sectors are the strongest?

According to the London Analytical Report produced by the Strategy Unit, based on findings from the Office of National Statistics and the GLA, the sectors which are expected to increase in employment trends are:

• Business Services (that's legal, accounting, consultancy, architectural, advertising, labour recruitment, software consultancy, real estate, R & D, security and so on)
• Health and Education
• Tourism
• Other services

There has been higher than average growth for employment in creative industries such as film, craft, music, arts and antiques, computer games, radio and television, publishing, designer fashion and advertising. In fact, 40% of the jobs in the creative industries in the UK are in London, followed by the south east and one in five of every new job in London is created for this sector.

In addition, London has a higher rate of annual employment in the knowledge based industries of 2.5%; that is employment in areas such as telecommunications, software, research, and some public sector activities such as health, social work and education.

The London Development Agency supports all sectors, but the focus of its business support and development is prioritised in these sectors:

• Creative and production industries
• Innovation
• Life sciences
• Environmental sector

Where do office professionals fit in?

Higher skilled and higher paid jobs account for an increasing proportion of employment. According to the Economic Development Strategy, in the early 1990s, 39% of those employed in London were in managerial, professional and technical occupations. By the end of the decade, that percentage had increased to 45% and it shows no signs of slowing.

The Institute of Employment Research expect that employment change in administrative and clerical occupations is forecast to be 13% in 2010. This is down from 21% in 1971 and 1981, but it just shows how the nature of the work the office professional has changed. The message is: Keep Learning and developing your skills and knowledge! The IER forecasts that in 2010 the trends will look like this in London:

More immediately, the Secretarial and Support Staff Survey published by London recruitment consultant Gordon Yates suggests that the business sector most likely to increase support staff numbers in 2005 appears to be the Charities/Associations. The Professional, Retail/Leisure and general commercial sectors are the most conservative in their forecast. Overall, the survey forecasts that there is an anticipated 26% net increase in companies increasing their support staff complement in 2005.

London needs highly skilled people. What does this mean for you?

London's economy is forecast to need less people with middle and lower level skills and more with people who are highly skilled. The message is that you really need to keep developing your skills base and knowledge. In other words, keep training and learning and use any opportunity you can to sharpen your effectiveness and capabilities in your role. The London Analytical Report produced by the Strategy Unit shows that it in middle skilled employment, it will be important to take advantage of the higher skilled jobs - so for example, to train up as a sports coach rather than remaining a sports assistant.

London has a higher proportion of its workforce in higher qualified bands than the rest of the UK. If you're thinking of moving to London - as indeed you would anywhere - find out as much as you can about the skills you're going to need to fine tune to get that role you want. Talk to recruitment consultants to find out exactly what skills you'll need, for example, so that you can make sure you're ready to hit the ground running when you arrive.

Actions to take:

• Look forward and talk to your boss about where your career is going with your company - how does he see your role developing in the next three years? Making your annual review work for you will help you prepare for this conversation.



• Take the necessary action you need to ensure your role is continually developing your skills and personal growth. This could mean moving on. Let's do a skills audit will help you do this and, if you decide you need to change companies to get the role you want, look at the Recruitment pages.



• Could you study for extra qualifications or take on new responsibilities which enhance your employability prospects? Look at the Training and Learning section to help you plot your move forward.