THE first employment survey published since the General Election suggests confidence among East Midlands employers has slumped.
The survey, by workforce experts The ManpowerGroup, was based on responses from 2,109 UK employers. It asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter. It is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind and is used as a key economic statistic by both the Bank of England and the UK government.
Jason Greaves, Operations Director at Manpower, said: “The East Midlands has been flying high in the hiring stakes for the last few years, outperforming the national average and powering the region’s manufacturing industry. However, this confidence has taken a hit this quarter, with a five point fall in the region’s Outlook, to plus three per cent. It has bee the General Election, so it is hardly surprising that this has impacted hiring plans.
“We are not seeing jobs being created as quickly as we saw last year or earlier this year, but the timing means that this quarter’s fall could just be a temporary blip. With an outlook of plus three per cent, we are still in positive territory and we have seen some high profile companies creating jobs and demonstrating their confidence in the region recently.
Nationally, companies are demonstrating cautious optimism with an Outlook of plus five per cent, despite a triple whammy of uncertainty over the last few months – a snap election, the triggering of Article 50, and weak economic data for the first half of 2017. Whilst on first glance the election uncertainty might appear unhelpful to employers, ManpowerGroup believes that the shock result could offer hope for businesses who had feared the impact of a hard Brexit on hiring.
James Hick, ManpowerGroup Solutions Managing Director: “You might have expected hiring confidence to have taken a real hit, but employers have been standing firm. However, unquestionably they feared the outcome of a hard Brexit on the jobs market. The election result throws into question the Conservative commitment to slash immigration to the “tens of thousands” and double the levy on non-EU workers to £2,000. The simple truth is that some sectors will stall without skilled workers from overseas, which could result in the UK economy entering a tailspin.
“People might be surprised to learn that in the last year 80,000 Bulgarians and Romanians entered the UK workforce, while the size of the UK-born workforce did not increase at all – demonstrating just how accustomed we have become to a steady stream of labour from overseas. Slamming the door shut will leave us seriously exposed.”