The employment market for librarians and information specialists in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The supply of trained librarians and information specialists has grown very rapidly in the last 35 years. Significant changes have also taken place in the demographic structure of that workforce. Until recently there has been a similar expansion in the demand as represented by the number of posts for such staff. Mainly economic factors have greatly reduced the extent to which demand in the established markets is growing. There are signs that new employment markets are emerging. Three types of jobs are being created—for librarians and information workers; for information analysts and research workers, and for information systems specialists. When filling these posi tions employers rate expenence more highly than qualifica tions. Perhaps as a consequence, a very wide range of qualified people are obtaining the jobs and so far librarians and infor mation workers have failed to make a major impact on the employment market.