Most Welsh firms optimistic about creating jobs next year

THE majority of Welsh employers are optimistic about creating new jobs going into 2016, according to research from Manpower.

For the first quarter of 2016 a positive net balance of 9% of employers envisaged taking on more staff.

For the current quarter (Q4) the positive balance amongst Welsh employers is 11%.

While the outlook into 2016 is below the current position, it is still above the UK average of +7%.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 2,102 UK employers. It asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter.

Operations director at Manpower UK Krissle Davies said: “Candidate shortages are really pinching, and employers are struggling to recruit for the lower-skilled permanent opportunities within customer services and administration that would normally be filled easily on a daily basis.

“This shortage of candidates is also having an impact on pay.

“For example, in order to find candidates for warehouse opportunities in harder to reach locations outside the major cities, employers are having to beat the National Minimum Wage and offer salaries closer to the region of £23,000.”

The research also highlights that job candidates are increasingly calling the shots in some Valleys communities.

Ms Davies added: “The Valleys have attracted some employers to relocate from elsewhere in the UK as it is considered a cheaper place to operate customer service contact centres.

“Here we’ve experienced an increasing number of candidates failing to turn up at the interview stage, as they have found a better role in the time between application and interview.

“The market is moving very quickly in this regard and companies are having to speed up their hiring process and improve their pay and benefits packages to attract the best candidates.

“Looking at some other hotspots across the region, Cardiff is booming and we are seeing strong demand from public health employers and the legal services and construction sectors.

“The £125m project to establish the BBC’s Central Square base is generating confidence elsewhere in the city too and we look forward to seeing the impact of this on the jobs market in coming quarters.”

The UK seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook has jumped two percentage points to +7% as companies ramp up hiring plans going into the New Year.

The upbeat national picture is being fuelled by Britain’s booming business and finance services sector, at +10%, and particularly high tech areas such as cyber security.

Recent high-profile data breaches, such as those at TalkTalk and Sony, have created a surge in demand for cyber security experts.

ManpowerGroup has seen a record number of requests received for specialists with IT security expertise in 2015, four times’ the demand that it saw last year.

Despite the positive national picture in Q1 2016, employers face significant uncertainties later in the year ahead.

Mark Cahill, ManpowerGroup UK managing director, said: “The introduction of the National Living Wage in April 2016 is set to send shockwaves through the UK jobs market, especially in generally lower paid sectors such as retail, hospitality and social care.

“Many employers are still working out how much the national living wage will cost them – and how they are going to pay for it – and the picture that will emerge over the coming months may not be all rosy.

“This is combined with looming uncertainty over the timing and outcome of Britain’s EU referendum.

“The General Election had the effect of pausing the uptick in employment in April and early May and ManpowerGroup expects Brexit uncertainty to have an even more dramatic impact.”