Protestants Take Majority In The Workforce, Report Says

The Protestant workforce share is 53.7% compared to the Catholic workforce which is 46.3%, according to a report published by The Equality Commission.

The report, dealing with returns for 2011 from 3,808 employers, reveals that the total number of monitored employees contracted for the third year in succession falling by 2,884, a decline of 0.6%. That was less than the decline in 2010 which was 0.9%.

The monitored workforce in 2011 stands at 509,842.

Commenting on the report Michael Wardlow, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland said: "This year's returns show that the composition of the monitored workforce is broadly in line with the community shares of those available for work. There has been a continuation of the consistent and gradual change, year on year, which has seen the Catholic share of the monitored workforce rise by six percentage points over the last decade. The Catholic composition of the monitored workforce [46.3%] reflects the latest estimates from LFS surveys of Catholics of working age [43.3% to 46.5%]."

For the third consecutive year the report also shows that there were more Roman Catholic [51.6%] than Protestant [48.4%] applicants for jobs. This trend is also reflected in appointee figures where, although appointees from both communities decreased by similar amounts, the Roman Catholic share [52.1% was, for the sixth successive year, greater than the Protestant share [47.9%].

"The aggregated information in the Monitoring Report allows us to consider broad trends such as these in the overall workforce and in the different sectors and types of employment," Mr Wardlow said. "The report considers the returns from the public and private sectors, looks at those in part-time and full-time work and sets out the proportions of men and women in the monitored workforce. This aggregated information provides an overview of the Northern Ireland workforce which informs all involved in efforts to achieve and maintain fair participation in individual employments and in the wider workforce.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express thanks to those employers who have carefully compiled and submitted their returns, not just in this year but over the last 22 years. I acknowledge that the continuing process of monitoring and reviewing their workforce composition and employment practices is a considerable but very important commitment by employers and I commend their diligence and dedication."

(CD)