Before Referendum Jobs Market Remained Strong, but Skills Shortages Spell Trouble Ahead – REC

 

The JobsOutlook survey from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) shows that before the referendum, 45 per cent believed economic conditions to be ‘getting better’, against 21 per cent who believed conditions were deteriorating.

 

The survey of 600 employers also finds two thirds adopting what could be a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude to hiring, with one in five (21 per cent) planning to hire but three times as many (66 per cent) intending to keep their permanent employee headcount static over the short term (next three months).

 

Eight in ten UK businesses (79 per cent) report operating with either ‘little’ or ‘no’ capacity to take on more work without creating more jobs but employers anticipate difficulties finding appropriately skilled candidates for jobs in in engineering, construction, hospitality, and health and social care.

 

REC Chief Executive Kevin Green says:

 

“Whilst it is too early to draw conclusions about the impact the EU referendum result will have on hiring activity, it is encouraging to see how strong the UK jobs market was in the months leading up to the vote.

 

“Data from the ONS shows that employment grew by 624,000 in the last year and we have our best ever employment rate of 74.4 per cent. This supports the idea that the jobs market will be able to withstand any disruption to the economic outlook.

 

“At the same time, there are still lots of employers finding it difficult to hire the staff they need in both highly skilled sectors such as engineering and at the other end of the market in hospitality and healthcare.     

 

“With British applicants already in short supply, policy makers must ensure that employers can continue to access the people they need from Europe to fill the jobs available. This must be top of the agenda to safeguard the strength of the UK jobs market and sustainable economic growth which benefits us all.”  

 

The next issue of JobsOutlook will include data collected in July, after the referendum, and is published on Wednesday 24 August.

 

Ends

 

Notes to editors: 

 

1.  JobsOutlook is produced by the REC in partnership with ComRes. ComRes interviewed 600 employers and owners involved in hiring by telephone between April 11^th and June 21^st 2016. Data were weighted to be representative of UK adults in employment by region, broad industry sector and public / private sector split. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Data tables are available at www.comres.co.uk
   
   
2. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released 20 July 2016 shows UK employment to be at 74.4 per cent https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/latest