The DPRU hosted the LMI researchers at the University of Cape Town for a full day workshop.

The purpose of the Researchers Workshop was to familiarise the researchers about the entire Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) research programme, and to:

• Discuss an overview of the research programme,
• Cover the themes, list of projects and linkages between projects, and
• Offer the research teams an opportunity to present and discuss their draft papers, and/or conceptual frameworks.

The workshop also offered an opportunity to facilitate engagements between researchers involved and discuss synergies across projects. Further discussions included clarifying practical and conceptual matters in relation to the research project such as the policy importance of the LMI and linking key outputs to policy, and covering key cross cutting research outputs, such as a compendium of indicators, and a common list of definitions.

Outcomes from the workshop included consensus on:

• A way forward on amending the current methodology for identifying occupations in high demand, nationally;
• The concepts of occupational shortages and priority occupations;
• The purpose of each list and who the users of the required information will be;
• A way forward for the methodology on identification of occupational shortages;
• A way forward for the methodology to identify provincial list of occupations in high demand; and
• A way forward for the methodology to identify priority occupations.

These insights will be developed further and applied by the relevant project team in carrying out the work that is required under Theme 1 of the LMI: Preparing lists of occupations in high demand, occupational shortages, and priority occupations.