West Midlands set to continue being employment hotspot

THE West Midlands is continuing to prove the UK’s employment hotspot with recruitment prospects well above the national average, according to a new survey.

Recruitment organisation Manpower said that with a score of +12%, the West Midlands had outstripped the national average of +7% as the region continued to offer good opportunities especially in the logistics and manufacturing sectors.
 
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 2,103 UK employers. It asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter. It is considered 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.
 
“The West Midlands had a particularly strong 2014 and it is incredibly encouraging to see that confidence continuing into 2015,” says Krissie Davies, Operations Director at Manpower UK.

“Following what was not only a strong, but also a consistent, 2014, Q1 2015 marks the 12th consecutive quarter of positive hiring intentions for the region.”
She said with the region’s manufacturing-focused economy there continued to be major opportunities in the sector.

However, she said it was not solely this that was driving the driving the positive sentiment.

“Positioned in the middle of country, with excellent links to the rest of the UK, the logistics sector in the region is also thriving with jobs continuing to come online. Behind this has been the noticeable increase in public spending coupled with continuing confidence in the economy that has given industry leaders a sense of certainty as they plan their output strategies,” she said.
 
Another trend identified is the increase in competition for candidate attraction, especially for temporary staff. The survey concludes businesses are looking at different strategies to attract people including increasing salaries as well as providing long term training and career incentives.
 
The national picture in early 2015 is also positive, following a strong 2014, which saw the highest level of job creation in 40 years. The national Seasonally Adjusted Net Employment indicates that, with an outlook of +7%, 2015 will begin even more optimistically than the fourth quarter of 2014, when the outlook was +6%.
 
Britain’s biggest companies are set to lead the job creation charge in early 2015 and, with an outlook of +21%, more of the UK’s largest employers are planning to take on staff than at any point in the last decade.

Manpower said many big businesses built up large cash reserves in the downturn and now that confidence is returning they have money to invest in infrastructure and growing their workforces.

The run-up to Christmas has also seen a recruitment spike with some of the UK’s biggest and best-known companies taking on staff in their thousands as they prepare for the seasonal rush. In the case of Royal Mail, Manpower has worked with the company to help recruit an additional 19,000 seasonal workers.