Revealed: the most common jobs in Portsmouth, Havant, Gosport and Fareham

The 2021 Census includes one of the most comprehensive pictures the work people do in England and Wales.

Office for National Statistics figures show Portsmouth residents were most commonly working as sales and retail assistants when the census was carried out, with 4,860 employees in the sector.

This is equivalent to one in 28 working-age people in the area – defined by the ONS as aged between 16 and 64.

Sales and retail assistants were followed by 3,580 people working as care workers and home carers, and 2,600 as cleaners and domestic workers.

Other figures:

Gosport – 1) sales and retail assistants, 1,715; 2) care workers, 1,700; 3) cleaners and domestic workers, 860.

Fareham – 1) sales and retail assistants, 2,080; 2) other administrative occupations, 1,280; 3) care workers and home carers, 1,245.

Havant – 1) sales and retail assistants, 2,700 employees; 2) care workers and home carers, 2,090; 3) other administrative occupations, 1,245.

Research by the ONS suggests some jobs may be dying out – for instance, the age profile of typists and bookbinders is far older than those carrying out data entry and analysis.

There have been warnings in recent years certain jobs may be automated out of existence, as new technology simplifies repetitive tasks in both manual and office settings.

James Reed, chairman of the jobs website Reed.co.uk, believes there are reasons to be optimistic about the future job market.

He said: ‘Sales professionals who can build genuine relationships, healthcare providers tending to the needs of our ageing population, and educators shaping young minds – these will continue to be popular and coveted vocations.

‘While technology propels us forwards, this is not to say that our innate human qualities will become redundant in the pursuit of meaningful and important work.’

The figures further show around 9,795 Portsmouth residents were working in the broader category of managers, directors and senior officials in Portsmouth – the most highly skilled job category according to the ONS.

Meanwhile, 11,600 were working in so-called 'elementary' occupations, defined as requiring the least amount of education or training.

This means 8.5% of the working-age population were in very low-skilled roles.

Across England and Wales, sales and retail jobs were the most common, with around 1.1 million workers, followed by more than 800,000 people employed in the care sector.

Julius Probst, labour economist at the recruitment service TotalJobs, says jobs in care will be crucial in the years to come, especially as they are difficult to automate.

He said: ‘Countries like the UK will experience a rapidly ageing population over the next two decades as the share of people aged 60 or above is going to increase substantially.

‘These are tasks that robots will not be able to take over anytime soon.’