- Finance & Business Services third quarter confidence at nine-year high
- Utilities hiring to hit four-year high
- Leisure and Retail sector jobs up as consumers keep spending and holiday at home
- London summer jobs confidence at five-year low
- UK Net Employment Outlook +15%
MANPOWER EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK SURVEY QUARTER3 2007
LONDON, 12th JUNE 2007 UK employers plan to increase hiring for the third consecutive
quarter with those in all industries and regions surveyed looking to recruit more staff over the summer months,
according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today. This is in spite of rising interest
rates and concerns about inflation.
Employers in the Utilities, Finance & Business Services and Hotels & Retail sectors are reporting some
of their strongest results with hiring to increase over the same time last year and last quarter.
Manpower's latest survey of nearly 1,700 employers reveals that a favourable 21 per cent plan to take on more
staff in the quarter ahead (July - September) and just six per cent plan to make staff reductions, giving a Net
Employment Outlook¹ of +15%. 72 per cent of employers plan no change to their headcount. This Outlook is up one
percentage point on Quarter 2 and two percentage points on the year. When seasonal variations are removed from
the data, the Outlook is +14%.
Comments Mark Cahill, Managing Director of Manpower UK: "It is encouraging that UK employers
feel positive about the future especially in the light of recent interest rate increases and inflation above
the two percent target. The labour market has been remarkably robust and for now employers do not seem overly
concerned."
Finance & Business Services employers expect their most bullish third-quarter hiring activity since 1998.
Over one quarter of firms (27 per cent) are planning to take on more staff over the next three months and just
six per cent plan to make cut backs, giving a Net Employment Outlook of +21%. At the same time, confidence among
employers in the Utilities sector is positive at +26% - the strongest third quarter result on record (since 2002),
Continues Mark: "Hiring amongst Finance & Business Services employers is still strong although
this brings continuing challenges of recruiting quality staff to meet demand. Additional Manpower research shows
that accounting and finance staff are amongst the most difficult positions to fill in the UK and the number of
vacancies is also increasing"
Continuing consumer confidence is reflected in the Hotels & Retail sector with an Outlook of +16% - up on
the year and on the last quarter. Employer confidence in this sector is being driven by increasing demand in
the Leisure (hotels/restaurants) sub-sector where a balance of +32% of employers are taking on staff. High
Street employers also plan to take on more staff with a balance of +9% looking to expand their headcount.
Comments Mark Cahill: "The strong performance in the leisure and retail industry reflects
continued consumer spending power and may be driven by people looking to holiday in the UK - partly thanks to
the anticipated fine weather this summer. The good news is that demand for staff is being fully met - often thanks
to employers maximising the opportunities of skilled migrant labour."
At a regional level, employers in the South West and Northern Ireland are the most confident, recording Outlooks
of +28 and +25%, respectively. Employers in the North East, North West, East and West Midlands all report figures
above the national average. Employers in Yorkshire and Humberside, the South East and Scotland report Outlooks
below the national average. London employers are the least optimistic of all regions surveyed with an Outlook of
just +1% - a decline of 12 percentage points on the year and five points on the quarter. However, Manpower's
research also shows that the labour supply in the Capital is robust with few employers reporting problems filling
vacancies
Across the countries surveyed in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, job prospects are strongest
in Norway, South Africa, the UK, Germany and Sweden. Employers in Germany and Norway are reporting the most
optimistic hiring intentions since the survey began in these countries. Italian employers report the weakest
(though still positive) hiring expectations in the region.
-Ends-
NOTES TO EDITORS
¹A 'Net Employment Outlook’ is calculated by subtracting those employers who plan to reduce staffing levels
from those who plan to hire staff. A positive result indicates that more employers plan to increase rather
than decrease staffing levels; a negative result reflects the opposite. [% increase (18%) - % decrease (14%)
= 14%]
For international comparisons and visual library with graphs, visit
www.manpower.com.
About the Survey
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase
or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the most extensive
forward-looking survey of its kind, unparalleled in its size, scope, longevity and area of focus. The Survey
has been running for more than 40 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the
world. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on interviews with nearly 50,000 public and private
employers worldwide and is considered a highly respected economic indicator.
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is currently available for 27 countries and territories: Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland,
Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The program began in the United States and Canada in 1962,
and the United Kingdom was added in 1966. Mexico and Ireland launched the survey in 2002, and 13 additional
countries were added to the program in 2003. New Zealand joined the program in 2004, China, India, Switzerland
and Taiwan were added in 2005, and Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and South Africa joined in 2006. For more
information, visit the Manpower Inc. Web site at www.manpower.com and enter the Research Center.
About Manpower
Manpower is one of the largest and most innovative companies in the UK’s employment services industry;
creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work. The
company provides a wide range of services including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment,
employee assessment and selection, training, outplacement, outsourcing and consulting.
Manpower was established in the UK in 1956, and today works with organisations in both the public and
private sectors, ranging from small and medium-sized enterprises, to multi-national organisations such
as BMW, BT, Hertfordshire County Council, IBM, Royal Mail and Xerox.
The focus of Manpower’s work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and
cost-reduction, enabling customers to concentrate on their core business. Manpower works across
all industries finding people for every level of an organisation.
Manpower Professional (formerly Nicholas Andrews) is the company’s accountancy and finance arm,
and was voted Recruiter of the Year by Accountancy Age magazine in 2005.
Manpower UK has a network of over 300 offices and is a subsidiary of Manpower Inc, a worldwide
network of 4,400 offices in 72 countries and territories.
