During the recession, many workers found themselves made redundant as a result of businesses cutting back on staff in a bid to save money. This led to workers in similar sectors fearing their jobs would also be at risk, causing job security levels to plummet and piling stress upon employees.
Fortunately, this trend appears to be slowly reversing, with a recent study by data provider Markit showing that confidence in job security has reached a four and a half year high. Workers in the finance and business sectors led this climb in optimism, resulting in the highest level of confidence seen since February 2009.
In what is good news for the commercial property industry, Markit economist Tim Moore believes that the end of the recession is slowly having a positive effect.
He says; “Strains on household budgets have receded since the beginning of 2013, and September’s survey suggests that better job security is also helping to bolster consumer confidence.”
The Markit Household Finance Index takes into account factors such as job security and wage inflation when determining the overall perceptions of financial wellbeing in British households. September’s total score came in at 40.8 – although any level below 50 indicates a downturn in financial confidence, this reading is a huge step up from scores collated over the past few years and therefore has given economists the view that optimism is slowly returning to UK consumers.
Yet the results were not all positive, as squeezes on household budgets remain a primary concern for many. 26 per cent of households expressed the view that their financial situation had worsened in September, with only 8 per cent believing they had managed to make improvements.
There could be any number of reasons for this downturn, however, as parents will have found their budgets decreased by the purchasing of school uniforms as children returned to their studies. Furthermore, many households could be concerned about energy prices thanks to the recent cold snap forcing most to turn up the heating.
While it is certainly good news that workers believe they are now less likely to lose their jobs thanks to staffing cut backs, the survey made the fact that financial pressures remain at the forefront of consumers’ minds abundantly clear.
With the economy relying upon consumers to spend in order to drive growth, it is essential to address issues such as underemployment and wage freezes to strengthen both businesses and the economic base in the event of future contractions.
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