Sky News & Mandis Launch Interactive Job Map on Day That New Unemployment Figures Are Revealed

On the day that the Government revealed new unemployment figures for the UK, 18 March 2009, Sky News launched a new interactive jobs map on its website at http://www.skynews.com/Jobs

The 18th March 2009 saw the new interactive tool go live on the site for the first time. It will allow visitors to see job gains and losses around the UK. Working in conjunction with leading Business Intelligence and Employment Research Provider Mandis, the new mapping tool will bring a snapshot of job gains and losses to skynews.com visitors, where they will be able to search by region, date and job sector. The map will be updated continuously and is designed to give users an up-to-the-minute picture of how the recession is affecting their region and their chosen industry.

The map will be broken down by areas of the UK, and can be searched on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, to show the main job losses and gains. At the click of the mouse, Sky New and Mandis readers will be able to drill down into the data, which expands to show more detail of the chosen location or job announcement.

The detailed data is held on Mandis dedicated servers and the full Mandis database contains details of over 3 million companies and public sector organisations, of which approximately 300,000 are active on a regular basis.

As well as giving snap shot information, users will also be able to click through to information on the Mandis website, where existing Mandis users will be able to view a full company page on the data theyíre interested in, while non-Mandis users to will be able to access a slightly less detailed page.

Executive Producer for Skynews.com, Julian March, said of the new tool:

Sky News and skynews.com is always looking at ways to make the news more relevant to its viewers and users, and to help them make sense of how the big stories relate to them personally. Working with Mandis on the job map is an excellent example of bringing that relevance to life in an easy, up-to-the-minute, visual tool where visitors can look at the top line picture across the UK, or drill down into a specific job sector in a specific region.

The economy is a story that unfortunately is going to be making headlines for a long time to come it seems. We want to make sure people have access to different sources of information on skynews.com and can use it in a meaningful way during this often difficult and unsettling time.

Mandis Chief Executive, Philip Arnold, said: Mandis Business Intelligence is the leading Business and Employment Research Company in the UK and is a frequent contributor to many of the leading national media, including a monthly feature on the Sky News Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes.

Weíre delighted to be working with Sky News to provide a continuous stream of UK business intelligence and employment gains and losses. Our data is based upon business trading statements, news reports and other corporate announcements, including more than 100 daily announcements of liquidations and receivership. We monitor over 300,000 companies and public sector organisations, which collectively account for over 95% of the UK economy – and Sky News viewers will be able to access all of this data through the visual map tool.