Those of us looking for work might be interested to read the results of the latest Outlook Survey from Manpower. The survey asks employers about their hiring intentions for the coming quarter.
Overall, Manpower found that employers are still positive, although less than they were previously. The Index recorded a balance of +2% companies intending to recruit employees in Q4. However, this is a decrease from the previous quarter when hiring intentions registered +3%, and it’s the first overall decrease since the beginning of 2009.
The North-South divide has reappeared and prospects in several areas of the North do not look good. The mythical line runs from the Humber to the Bristol Channel and employers to the North of it predict -2% hiring, whilst below the line, the figure was +6%.
Earlier this year, employers in the finance and business services sector were hiring like nobody’s business, but their Q4 predictions were down four percentage points to +6%.
Mark Cahill, the UK MD of Manpower, said the finance sector had been the most optimistic sector after the recession but this optimism has been dropping away recently.
The utility sector has now taken over as the most positive sector. Employers in the electricity, gas and water industries report hiring intentions of +10%.
On a regional basis, the East of England is most optimistic at +11%, followed by the East Midlands and the South West at +8% and +7% respectively. At the other end of the scale, hiring intentions in Northern England fell to -10% and in Wales to -6%. Unusually, London came in at a flat 0%, but that could be due to the lack of optimism in the financial sector.
Of course, there could still be plenty of opportunities for contractors, especially in the North. Employers may not want to hire permanent staff, but if they have a rush job to complete, they could well turn to freelancers and contractors to plug the gap.
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Image: Keep going and stay positive by JanetR3
