Adecco Group and Mandis reveal job creation increases by 40%

UK employment has seen a positive start to 2008 with job creation in January to March 2008 rising by 40 per cent compared to the respective period in 2007. The building and construction industry was the best performing sector benefiting from numerous public and quasi-public sector contract awards and urban regeneration announcements.

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Top Sectors for the Quarter:

Building and construction
The top sector for job creation with 28,371 jobs created during the period of January to March 2008 compared to only 6,436 in the respective months in 2007.

Key announcements in the sector:

The British Energy Group Plc announced plans to build a replacement reactor in Hartlepool safeguarding 700 energy jobs and creating 3,000 new construction jobs during the building phase

PD Ports (PDP) received formal planning approval for its Northern Gateway Container Terminal (NGCT) at Teesport in the North East of England, creating at least 2,500 construction jobs

Stratford City Developments, the developer for the major new urban regeneration in the heart of East London, which will remain after the 2012 Olympics, announced developments, which will initially create another 2,000 construction jobs

British Land Canada Quays received planning approval for its multi-million pound regeneration project at Canada Water in London Docklands creating approximately 1,500 temporary construction jobs

Support services

The support services sector has seen an increase of 10,966 jobs created, the second highest on the Job Creation Index for the start of 2008. Support services, especially call centres are likely to continue to benefit from the consumer backlash against overseas call centres which has seen the opening of many new UK centres as the multinational relocate overseas call activities back to the UK.

Key announcements in the sector:

The University of Exeter has entered into a joint venture with Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, East Devon District Council, the Met Office and the South West Regional Development Agency to develop a Science Park, which is planned to create 3,000 jobs, 600 of which are likely to be in support services roles

The BBC awarded a Newcastle based firm Eaga a 500m five-year contract to assist seven million disabled and elderly to convert from the analogue to digital TV signal service creating 350 jobs

Retail and wholesaling

Although not at the top of the Job Creation Index in terms of percentage increase, retail and wholesaling is the second highest sector for total number of jobs created overall with 14,837 positions announced in January to March 2008. Supermarket expansion is one of the key drivers for the high number of jobs created with all the major chains building new stores and improving and expanding existing operations.

Key announcements in the sector:

Asda announced plans to create 22 new super stores and 9000 jobs nation-wide including 500 new jobs at 53 new in-store pharmacies (100 as pharmacists), 1,500 new jobs in its home delivery service and another 7,000 new jobs across its distribution centres (500 in Doncaster)

Tesco and Sainsburyís announced major plans regarding new stores and their distribution infrastructures resulting in over 4,000 new positions

The Bristol City 500m Cabot Circus development scheduled towards September 2008 will create more than 4,000 new jobs and is expected to make Bristol one of the top 10 best shopping destinations in the UK

Rene Schuster, CEO of Adecco Group UK and Ireland said: ìThe increase in job creation by 40% compared to January to March in 2007 is encouraging to see. There is concern that the ìcredit crunchî will slow growth and impact employment trends but significant announcements such as that in the building and construction sector shows that despite the current concerns expansion and development is still happening. Regional development plans around the UK are impacting multiple sectors including retail, support services and building and construction and we hope to see the benefits continue as the year progresses.î

Philip Arnold, CEO Mandis commented, ìExtending and improving upon on the overall positive position in quarter to March 2007, the quarter to March 2008 figures are very upbeat. These results confirm the trend towards the expansion of lower paying jobs in the economy in those business areas that cannot be outsourced overseas, but must be delivered by UK based employees. Hence the overall growth of 40% is very encouraging and will generate significant new short term taxation revenues for the Chancellor; although again any satisfaction must be tempered by the fact that there is a marked reduction in the creation of the new jobs in the higher paid roles.î

The quarterly JCI figures are determined by comparing the number of jobs created within UK industrial sectors across a three-month period with the number of jobs created for the corresponding months in the previous year. The JCI figure shows individual industry performance, measured as a percentage above or below the number of jobs created in the same three months one year ago.