NORTH West employers are the most pessimistic in the UK regarding employment prospects – and an East- West divide has appeared, reflecting confidence levels.
Recruitment group Manpower published its Outlook Survey yesterday based on 2,100 responses from UK employers, including hundreds in the North West.
It reveals a dip in the region’s employment outlook to -5% for the first quarter of 2012, mirroring the national picture where hiring expectations have slumped to their lowest levels since the recession.
The national seasonally adjusted net employment outlook of 0% indicates that the jobs market is now flat-lining, compared with the marginally positive +1% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The survey is used as a key economic statistic by both the Bank of England and the Government.
Greg Hollis, Manpower North West operations manager, said: “The sluggish sentiment in the North West reflects the uncertainty about what is happening in the wider economy.” And he revealed an East-West divide, almost as if there is a vertical line from the north of England to the South, dividing regions with positive hiring intentions and those with negative expectations for the next quarter.
He said: “It’s almost as if someone has sliced England in half with the East currently much more optimistic about hiring than the West.”
Manpower director James Hick offered one explanation for the disparity, saying: “Where you have regional centres of employment or industry, an employer may have to recruit to fulfil an order very quickly, and then things can change after that.”
The North East is the most optimistic region with a score of +10, and the East Midlands and the East of England each also report healthy scores of +7 and +5 respectively. The South East is +4 and London +5.
In the West, it is a different picture. As well as the North West decline, the South West (-4%) records a negative outlook for the first time in a decade. Northern Ireland and Wales recorded small improvements but remain firmly rooted in negative territory with -6% points and -3% respectively.
