There is a North-South divide when it comes to hiring intentions, according to the latest quarterly survey of entrepreneurs conducted by RSM Tenon, the professional services firm.
40% of companies in the South have plans to increase their employee and umbrella company contractor numbers in the next few months, whilst 15% expect to make redundancies.
The picture is not so bright in the North where just 30% of firms intend to recruit more staff and as many as 28% are expecting to reduce the size of their workforce.
76% of entrepreneurs say they will not be slashing spending, nor will they be implementing pay rises this year.
Confidence is dropping among owners of small firms with only 43% feeling optimistic about potential opportunities in the next three months. This time last year the figure stood at 50%.
The Bank of Scotland believes that small firms north of the border have an integral role to play in ensuring that the level of private sector hiring compensates for the public sector job losses.
The January Report on Jobs from the Bank shows that last month, permanent appointments rose at the fastest rate for nine months. In good news for umbrella company contractors, billings for contract and temporary staff rose at the fastest speed for three and a half years.
The Bank of Scotland’s chief economist, Donald MacRae, said the labour market in Scotland improved for the third successive month. He did however caution that further improvement is necessary to ensure that private sector recruitment will offset the future public sector redundancies.
© 2010 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Image: Andrew Morrell Photography by Dividing Line
