LMI programme > About

LMIP Phase 1

In 2012, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation initiated the first phase of the labour market intelligence research programme, the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP) led by the Human Sciences Research Council. LMI Phase 1 was a collaboration between the South African government and a national research consortium, aiming to establish a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning in South Africa.

LMI Phase 1 was a unique undertaking designed to inform and support evidence-based skills development policy in South Africa. The partnership of researchers and planners developed ways to inform planning and funding decisions across the post-school education and training system, thereby informing and supporting the skills planning policy and practice of DHET and its entities, at varying levels and in varying spaces.

The rationale behind the LMI Phase 1 was to:

• Empower students and work-seekers to make the correct education and skills decisions, making them more attractive to employers;
• Enable government and companies to be able to make better strategic decisions in matching skills demand and supply, leading to increased productivity and profits; and
• Allow adult education and training institutions, workplace training providers, the FET college system, artisan, technical training, and the higher education sector, to respond to shifting labour market demand signals much more effectively.

At its core the LMIP was an applied research project, focussing on six key areas:

• Establishing a foundation for labour market information systems in South Africa
• Skills forecasting: supply and demand
• Studies of priority sectors
• Reconfiguring the post-school sector
• Pathways through education and training and into the workplace
• Understanding changing artisanal occupational milieus and identities

LMIP Phase 2

In 2019, the second phase of the LMI research programme commenced in partnership with the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The LMI is funded through the National Skills Fund (NSF). The programme aims to integrate skills planning within government strategies and plans in order to produce a capable workforce to achieve an inclusive growth path.

LMI ensures that skills are not a constraint on economic growth, and promotes the use of labour market intelligence for skills provisioning.

Visit the LMI Website