The 8th of April is the 98th day of 2019 and 231.2 months (or 7037 days) since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Did you know April 8 is also special because it’s a hot date in Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month?
What began in America in 1986 as a grassroots initiative to encourage more people to study maths and use it in their daily lives, is now an annual month-long programme of events. Exhibits, lectures, science fairs and open days are being hosted by colleges, universities, libraries and public groups.
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While American educators salute all things involving numbers, here in Scotland academics have also been celebrating one big number – 2.63 million, to be precise: that’s the number of pounds sterling in funding that’s just been allocated to the nation’s four science centres.
The Scottish Government cash will be shared between Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee’s Science Centres and Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. It’s hoped the financial boost will help make science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) accessible to a wider audience of all ages and from all backgrounds.
The funding also includes a much-needed transport subsidy for school pupils who live in rural and deprived areas, as well as a community subsidy to support the four centres’ commitment to engage with a greater diversity of visitors.
It’s timely and welcome news for Scotland, with STEM subjects playing an increasingly significant role in many of our jobs sectors – as can be seen in the wide variety of vacancies on s1jobs.
An intimate knowledge of numbers is also helping to boost the national economy.Innovative industries making strides for Scotland that rely on a firm grasp of up-to-date data and serious stats include IT, medicine, aerospace, manufacturing, biotechnology, renewable energy and many more.
With so many job seekers – from young school leavers to late career changers – all determined to use the power of mathematics and statistics to enter these new professions, how does the arithmetic of seeking jobs actually add up?
Well, let’s first take a look at the current market. The latest available figures available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show the estimated number of vacancies in the UK fell sharply during the recession of 2008 to 2009 but has increased steadily since 2012.
For December 2018 to February 2019 there were an estimated 854,000 vacancies in the UK – that’s 39,000 more than a year earlier. The largest vacancy rates were to be found in the accommodation and food service and information and communication sectors. The industries showing the smallest vacancy rates were those of public administration and defence.
Some ONS number crunching also revealed more good news for job seekers. Excluding bonuses, average weekly earnings for employees in the UK were estimated to have increased by 3.4%, before adjusting for inflation, and by 1.4%, after adjusting for inflation, compared with a year earlier.
Those in healthcare, perhaps not surprisingly, tend to work the longest hours while, according to the Accountancy Age Salary Survey 2018, accountants who are part of a practice work an average of 42.09 hours a week. Industry accountants, meanwhile, work 43.05 hours a week.
Showing that accountancy professionals really do drill down into their numbers, another study from the Association of Accounting Technician’s (AAT) suggests many in Scotland work even longer.
Its poll suggests employees across a range of industries work for an average of 34 hours and 26 minutes a week, adding up to a total of 1795 hours a year – that’s an astonishing 84,365 hours in a lifetime.
Meanwhile, the actual act of job hunting comes with its very own set of life-filling statistics. For example, the AAT poll also found we think about quitting our jobs 16 times a year – while, in reality, the most jobs we will have in our lifetimes averages no more than six.
There are many reasons given for wanting to change jobs and, not surprisingly, coming in at number one, is a desire to earn a higher salary. Other boxes to be ticked on a new job wishlist are enjoying less stress, improved perks, a better work-life balance and more interesting and fulfilling duties.
Such workplace aspirations mean job changes are more frequent today and so it’s more important than ever before for job seekers to use experts in recruitment such as s1jobs.
You can make a job change at any point in your life, with people of all ages and backgrounds looking for a fresh start. So why not visit s1jobs and see if your numbers all add up to an exciting new career?