South West job market is thriving, reveals employment outlook survey

The job market in the South West is thriving, with more employers looking to hire in the region than in other areas of the country, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

The study, which surveyed 2,100 employers in the UK, was compiled to find out whether employers are planning to recruit additional employees or reduce the size of their workforce in the first quarter of the year.

The survey showed that hiring intentions in Devon and Cornwall stand at 10 per cent, much higher than the national average of 7 per cent.  

Increasing confidence

Manpower UK Operations Director, Krissie Davies, commented on the research, stating that the company is “very pleased” to see job prospects in the South West to be “in firmly positive territory” for the first quarter ahead and that the appetite for hiring across the region’s biggest cities is evident.

"The Outlook this quarter has been driven by several factors, including increasing confidence in the engineering and financial sectors,” she said.

Davies stated that permanent employment opportunities are rising as employers are beginning to “phase out temporary-to-permanent roles in a bid to secure stronger commitment and loyalty from their employees.”

Strongest level

Hiring intentions in the first half of 2016 are at their strongest level nationally in nearly a decade.

ManpowerGroup Solutions Managing Director, James Hick, said that many of the jobs created in the past 12 months were filled by people from the EU, and he warned that an exit from the EU may cause the economy to suffer as the skills that these workers bring to the UK will not be able to be quickly replaced.