Talent

With 1.4 million people and 7 million people within an hour’s drive, Leeds City Region has the largest workforce in northern England. Over a third (35%) are educated to degree level, and the region’s nine universities produce over 39,000 graduates each year – almost half of whom graduate in STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths).

This pipeline of skilled graduates is further bolstered by 14 higher education colleges, University Training Colleges and the Leeds City Region Apprenticeship Programme, which are working to ensure future generations have the skills required to drive businesses growth.

Long-term investment in talent

We are committed to long-term investment in our talent. The Leeds City Region's Strategic Economic Plan outlines our ambition to increase the high level skills by 2036. The key actions of this strategy are providing more and better apprenticeships, delivering great education that is connected to business, improving people's employability and access to jobs, building workforce skills and attracting talent, and addressing skills gaps and shortages.

To help meet these goals, we’re working with the education sector to deliver new capital projects, such as new campuses and labs to ensure we have the best environments for learning. We’re also bringing businesses and educators together so that courses prepare students to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Leeds has been highlighted as one of the few cities to have net gain of talent each year, as talent looks to the region as the destination to start their careers. 

A multi-lingual workforce

Leeds City Region’s global outlook continues to grow, with 210,000 students from 150 countries who study here at our higher education institutions, and stay connected with university alumni networks.

That's a huge pool of native multi-linguists for businesses that rely on fluent communication for international competitive edge, alongside 9,000 students studying professional modern languages here.