Bleak outlook for West Midlands employment
EMPLOYMENT prospects in the West Midlands are the weakest in the UK, according to new evidence.
In its latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, recruitment organisation Manpower said that eight months after the country officially emerged from recession, employers in the West Midlands were reporting the weakest hiring rates out of any of the UK’s 12 main regions.
The study, based on the responses from more than 2,100 employers, showed that in the West Midlands employers planned to reduce staffing levels over the next three months with a Seasonally Adjusted Net Employment Outlook of -9% reported.
The West Midlands figure is weaker by three percentage points quarter-on-quarter but stronger by three percentage points year-on-year, and marks the region’s ninth consecutive quarter of negative hiring prospects.
The West Midlands also continues to report significantly weaker hiring intentions than the national average, which stands at +1% for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Greg Hollis, Operations Manager at Manpower, said: “The West Midlands is yet to return to pre-recession labour market conditions, having first been hit by extensive job cuts within manufacturing and – more recently – by the impact of Public sector spending cuts locally.
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“While this is disappointing for employers and jobseekers, it is not all bad news; there are jobs out there for those willing to be flexible in their requirements. As a business, we’re currently seeing specific demand for customer-facing roles, particularly within financial services as organisations look to capitalise on improved trading conditions.”
Elsewhere, in East Anglia employers report the most positive hiring prospects at +13%; aided by increased manufacturing activity, strong performances by hi-tech businesses, and growth in start-up businesses.
Employers in the South West enjoyed the best quarter-on-quarter improvement, up ten percentage points at +11%, while in London, employer hiring confidence fell for the third consecutive quarter, to -3%.
