Manufacturing has proven to be one of the biggest drivers of growth in the UK economy since the end of the recession, with the West Midlands in particular benefiting from a boom in demand both domestically and overseas. These advantages particularly lie within the field of employment, as recent data from recruiter Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey shows.
According to the report, companies within the West Midlands seeking to expand have fuelled a 9 per cent increase in regional employment on a quarterly basis. This is comfortably ahead of the national average, and demonstrates growing strength within the manufacturing sector within the West Midlands.
Furthermore, the firm’s Seasonally Adjusted Net Employment Outlook result of +8 per cent is a comfortable increase on the +7 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2014, indicating that yet more jobs will be created as the year progresses. As the employment survey is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and reliable of its kind, and is used by both the Bank of England and the UK government, all of this spells good news for employment opportunities in the West Midlands.
Manpower UK operations director, Krissie Davies, says; “Birmingham is once again driving the employment outlook for the West Midlands and helping to ensure that once again the region is outpacing the national average.
“The region has long been a hub for engineering and manufacturing and it is this sector again that is producing the greatest opportunity for job seekers.
“However, what we are hearing from our clients is that they are struggling to find suitably skilled candidates for the roles they are posting – this skills shortage is by no means unique to the West Midlands, but is something that candidates need to consider when they are applying to roles in the region.”
Yet manufacturing is not the only sector driving growth in the West Midlands, as Ms Davies points out.
She continues; “Sales and customer service positions within the media, marketing, insurance and financial services industries, as well as logistics managers, are all in strong demand in the region.
“While the majority of these roles are full time, employers are being increasingly flexible to ensure that they are able to secure the very best candidates – for example, allowing staff to work around school hours to help parents return to work.”
Elsewhere in the UK, Manpower’s data also showed a strong level of optimism in the majority of other UK regions. In fact, Northern Ireland is the only region expecting job losses to occur in the third quarter.
With firms such as Jaguar Land Rover, JCB and Bentley all investing into operations in the West Midlands, confidence is high throughout the supply chain. However, in order to achieve a balanced recovery, this success must be replicated in all regions of the UK to ensure the country’s overall economy continues to grow.
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