Labour Market Statistics for Scotland by Ethnicity, January to December 2021

Types of work

In January to December 2021, when compared to employed people in the white groups employed people in the minority ethnic groups were more likely to be:

• self-employed and other
• not in contractually secure work
• underemployed

However, the proportion of the minority ethnic groups who were self-employed and other (12.9 per cent) was similar to the proportion of the white groups (11.3 per cent). Whereas the proportion of the minority ethnic groups not in contractually secure work was almost twice the proportion of the white groups (9.3 and 4.8 per cent respectively). The proportion of hours based underemployment for the minority ethnic groups was also almost twice the proportion for the white groups (11.9 and 6.2 per cent respectively).

Self-employed and other includes people who are self-employed, on Government employment and training programmes, and unpaid family workers. Those who are self-employed make up the vast majority of the group (around 94 per cent in 2021).

Contractually secure work is defined as employees who are employed on a permanent basis.

Underemployment refers to those who are in work but would prefer to work more hours in their current job (at their basic rate of pay), in an additional job or in a new job with longer hours to replace their current job.

Chart 4: Employment by ethnicity and types of work, Scotland, 2021

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December, ONS

In January to December 2021, just under half of all employed people worked for small-sized employers (48.1 per cent). A similar proportion in the white groups and the minority ethnic groups worked for small-sized employers (48.1 and 49.3 per cent respectively).

However, a larger proportion of the minority ethnic groups worked for large-sized employers compared to the white group. A larger proportion of the white groups worked for medium-sized employers compared to the minority ethnic groups. In the white groups, a similar proportion worked for medium-sized and large-sized employers (23.6 and 25.0 per cent respectively). Whereas in the minority ethnic groups, a larger proportion worked for large-sized employers compared to medium-sized employers (29.5 and 16.4 per cent respectively).

Employer size is self-reported and may not be consistent with estimates of employers size reported from business sources.

Chart 5: Employment by ethnicity and employer size, Scotland, 2021

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December, ONS
Note: Estimates with a grey background are based on a small sample size. This may result in less precise estimates, which should be used with caution.

Small-Sized employers have less than 50 employees
Medium-Sized employers have between 50 and 249 employees
Large-Sized employers have 250 or more employees
Employers of unknown size have between 50 and 499 employees