North West employers lead UK on hiring intentions
North West employers have a keen appetite to hire during the second quarter of 2024.
That is one of the findings in the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey published today (March 12).
Petra Tagg, director at Manpower, said nearly a third (30%) of all businesses in the region are planning to recruit 10 or more staff – slightly above the national figure of 29%.
Despite ongoing economic challenges, the region’s employment overall Employment Outlook score is a robust +31%, placing the North West eight percentage points above the UK national average of +23%.
She said: “Sectors driving regional hiring intent in Q2 include: IT, Industrials & Materials, Transport, Logistics & Automotive and Healthcare & Life Sciences.
“Amongst those survey respondents currently hiring, 42% are backfilling vacancies because of recent employee departures while 41% intend to recruit because of organisational growth.”
She added: “These North West figures exceed the national averages for the April-June period by three and five percentage-points, respectively, indicating a dynamic labour market simultaneously characterised by both churn and growth.
“We’re likening these contrasting hiring strategies to a game of chess, with some organisations maintaining a defensive stance by backfilling roles due to recent employee departures, while others are going on the offensive and creating new positions in anticipation of future growth.”
She said: “Encouragingly, we’re seeing that many companies historically focused on recruiting in London are turning attention to northern city regions such as Manchester and Merseyside – with the latter potentially further benefiting from AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufacturing expansion plans announced by the Chancellor as part of last week’s Spring budget.
“The agglomeration effect of the Northern Powerhouse is proving beneficial for the post-pandemic workplace as remote-working – still highly prized by workers and supported by many employers because they can access broader talent pools – means that, despite London’s allure, lots of people no longer want to live and work in the capital, thus driving increased job demand across the North.”
Looking at the national picture, as the UK navigates its way out of the shallow recession recorded in the second half of 2023, the survey’s seasonally adjusted Q2 Net Employment Outlook remains robust and positive at +23%.
This represents a slight quarter-on-quarter decrease of -four percentage-points, but a year-on-year uptick of +one percentage-point. It also places the UK +one percentage-point above the global Q2 Survey average of +22% and +eight points above the EMEA regional survey average.
