This report analyses key shifts in the Western Sydney labour market in the context of rapid population growth. It positions Western Sydney’s labour force growth and change against 21st century shifts in the region’s economic structure.

Of importance here is the region’s long term struggle with the decline, in both relative and absolute terms, of Western Sydney manufacturing, and the ways Western Sydney has engineered a successful post-manufacturing transformation of a large segment of its workforce. A persistent problem, however, is the lack of jobs.