UK jobs picture improving, says global survey

Jo Faragher

The UK’s professional job market is improving, according to a global survey of employment trends.

Antal’s quarterly ‘Global Snapshot’ survey, which polls almost 10,000 organisations on their hiring activities and intentions, found that 50% of UK employers are hiring at managerial or professional level– up 5% on earlier predictions. Furthermore, 53% plan to recruit for senior roles over the next three months.

The most sought-after disciplines are creative design and board-level positions, with 86% currently recruiting for these roles. Demand for these roles in other Western European countries is relatively low, with high demand for engineering and production roles.

Less encouragingly, the proportion of British companies letting staff go is currently 41%, 11% up on figures reported earlier this year.

Antal’s CEO Tony Goodwin commented on the findings: “Many figures in this latest survey suggest that there are green shoots of employment positivity. It’s perhaps difficult to create a complete picture, but reports from our network suggest that, having gone through an elongated period of doing more for less, many businesses are keen to refresh their senior level talent pipelines and gain further competitive advantages with new skills. It will be interesting to see how these figures compare in the next quarter, but for now it seems a positive future could be on the cards.”

However, Lee Narraway, managing partner at Antal Warrington (UK), added a note of caution: “Despite a vast number of business decision makers talking about keeping top talent in the company in order to maintain a competitive advantage, levels of firing are higher that other economies which have struggled over the last quarter, including Greece. It is encouraging, though, that these levels are predicted to drop as employers look to at developing retention strategies in the UK.”