Labour Recruitment and Economic Change in a Peripheral Economy: Evidence from Northwest Wales

This chapter attempts to explore how the economic changes and social tensions which are characteristic of northwest Wales manifest themselves in the aspirations and behaviour of employers and employees. It presents a draws largely on research undertaken by the authors in response to an European Union request for quantitative evidence of labour supply constraints in the region. Data were collected by questionnaire and provide a rich source of information with which to address some of the fears concerning economic readjustment in a peripheral and largely rural labour market. Ten service or public sector firms were also interviewed to facilitate examination of possible labour flows between industrial sectors. Management vacancies are tightly specified but targeting the national labour market results in many suitable candidates. A question of interest in a region with a changing economic base is whether firms vary the selection criteria to suit local labour market history and conditions.