A recent study by HR software provider Ciphr has revealed which jobs are most prevalent in various parts of the UK.
Utilising data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Ciphr conducted a location quotient analysis to determine the regions with the highest concentrations of specific professions compared to the national average.
Unsurprisingly, London stands out with a significantly higher share of brokers, economists, lawyers, and writers, approximately three times the UK average.
More notably, the capital also has nearly twice the concentration of CEOs, making up 0.76 percent of its workforce compared to the national average of 0.39 percent.
This results in a location quotient of 1.9, indicating that CEOs are 1.9 times more commonly found in London than elsewhere in the UK.
Following London, the East of England boasts the next highest concentration of CEOs, employing them at 1.6 times the national rate. Conversely, Wales has the lowest concentration of CEOs at 0.3 times the UK average, followed by the West Midlands and the North West of England at 0.4 times.
Ciphr’s analysis of over 370 job types reveals that many occupations are more concentrated in specific regions. For instance, Scotland leads in early education and childcare practitioners, with a concentration 4.1 times the national average. Other notable professions in Scotland include painters and decorators, IT quality and testing professionals, bank and post office clerks, and architects.
In Northern Ireland, local and national government administrative occupations are prevalent, with concentrations 3.2 and 2.5 times the UK average, respectively. Teaching assistants, postal workers, and other nursing professionals are also more common in Northern Ireland.
The North East of England shows a high prevalence of quality assurance technicians, welding trades, elementary construction occupations, and call centre workers, with quality assurance technicians being 5.8 times more common than the UK average.
The North West has the highest concentration of plasterers and electrical and electronics technicians, while Yorkshire and the Humber excels in pensions and insurance clerks, mental health nurses, and child and early years officers.
Wales has a higher concentration of plumbers and heating installers, educational support assistants, and health and safety managers. The East Midlands leads in publicans and licensed premises managers, agricultural managers, and large goods vehicle drivers.
The West Midlands shows higher concentrations of glaziers, metal working machine operatives, early education managers, credit controllers, and forklift truck drivers.
The South West has a significant cluster of boat and shipbuilders, farm workers, non-commissioned officers, and carpenters. The South East is notable for its armed forces officers, biological scientists, computer system installers, and medical secretaries.
The East of England has a high concentration of animal care workers, newspaper editors, transport managers, production engineers, and events managers.
Below is a summary of the most common occupations in various regions:
| Location | Occupation | Concentration Relative to UK Average |
| South West | Boat and ship builders and repairers | 6.4 |
| North East | Quality assurance technicians | 5.8 |
| East Midlands | Publicans and managers of licensed premises | 4.8 |
| London | Elementary storage occupations | 4.5 |
| North West | Plasterers | 4.1 |
| Scotland | Early education and childcare practitioners | 4.1 |
| Northern Ireland | Local government administrative occupations | 3.2 |
| West Midlands | Glaziers, window fabricators, and fitters | 2.9 |
| East of England | Animal care services occupations | 2.9 |
| Yorkshire | Pensions and insurance clerks and assistants | 2.5 |
| South East | Officers in armed forces | 2.4 |
| Wales | Plumbers & heating and ventilating installers | 2.4 |
Ciphr also identified the most common jobs in the UK overall. The top occupations include programmers and software development professionals, care workers and home carers, office administrators, secondary education teachers, and financial managers.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
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