Partner Article

Hope for region’s job market

A NEW survey has revealed a rare slice of good news for the region’s job market with employers reporting a marked upturn in their intentions to grow their workforces in the next three months.

Employers in the North East are reporting positive hiring intentions for the first time since the first quarter of 2010, with an 8% year-on-year climb in the region’s recruitment outlook.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, based on responses from over 2,100 UK employers, shows that in the North East firms are planning to increase staffing levels over the next three months - with a Seasonally Adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +6% reported.

Amanda White, operations manager at Manpower, says: “A strong quarter-over-quarter increase is good news for the region. As a business, we’re seeing particularly positive hiring intentions emerge from the finance sector as these organisations now look to re-build back office functions post-recession.

“In addition, we’re seeing real demand for contact centre staff across a range of industries, as businesses look to retain a competitive edge.

Employers in the South East report the most positive hiring intentions at +9%, with job creation across finance and utilities helping to boost employer hiring confidence locally.

In contrast, West Midlands employers are the least optimistic at -5%, however this is a considerable improvement from last quarter (-9%) and may be directly related to the increasingly positive outlook in the Manufacturing sector which is now at +2%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .