With nationwide anxiety about the job market running rife, a recent survey of Brighton & Hove businesses has indicated a bright-looking future for jobs in the city by the sea. According to a December 2010 to January 2011 survey by BrightonandHoveJobs.com ( http://www.brightonandhovejobs.com ), more than a third (36%) of employers plan to create new jobs and take on new staff over the next 12 months, while 17% said they expected higher than average growth which could lead to new jobs. A mere 4.3% said they were looking to reduce staffing.
A parallel survey of employees also showed an optimistic outlook, with a swing towards people improving their work-life balance by finding local jobs instead of commuting to London, despite the capital's higher pay levels. Indeed, more than 80% of commuter respondents were seeking a shorter and easier journey. This trend may be influenced by the recent rise in train fares, although 25% of respondents believed the Brighton & Hove work environment is of a better quality. Among the respondents who did not yet have a job in Brighton & Hove, 75% were keen to find one in the next 12 months.
Increasing Brightons job pool, employers will be recruiting for positions in administrative and secretarial support, call centre and customer service, IT and telecoms, marketing, media and creative, management, sales and training, with a mixture of permanent, contract, casual and temporary roles. The survey found that 61% of employers are cautiously optimistic about the next 12 months, while 18% expected quicker expansion. A significant number (53%) of employers think Brighton and Hove has its own micro-economy, with businesses especially those in the digital sector bucking national trends.
Launched in September 2010, BrightonandHoveJobs.com is unifying the citys job market by becoming the only place that employers and candidates need to visit. Catering for a target area stretching from Eastbourne to Goring, BrightonandHoveJobs.com is a high-calibre venture. Its founding partners include the biggest brands and employers in the area, such as: American Express, Bupa, Domestic & General, Brighton & Hove City Council, Legal & General and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Gary Peters, founder of BrightonandHoveJobs.com, is himself a Brighton & Hove person through-and-through, having grown up locally. He says: BrightonandHoveJobs.com isnt just a recruitment site: we aim to support and promote the city. Other job boards cover this area but they tend not to be city-wide, across all sectors. As well as catering for local people, our site is ideal for Londoners who may like to relocate their work to Brighton and Hove. Right now, we have more than 600 vacancies and we're seeking more quality candidates to join the site.
He adds: At present, unless you're the government, its normal to paint a gloomy picture about the UKs employment prospects. Unemployment is rising and we face a year of public sector job cuts and redundancies. While most people assume that this will further dampen the economy, making a double-dip recession more likely, the government is suggesting that the private sector will create more jobs and absorb the public sector job losses.
This notion has been rather scorned by pundits and the public alike but our survey shows that in Brighton & Hove, the private sector may actually deliver!
Public sector job losses in the city have yet to be announced and things may be muddied by the local elections in May, so nobody can predict exactly what will happen. But the BrightonandHoveJobs.com survey of local employers suggests that the job market in Brighton and Hove is much sunnier than expected, with the private sector set to expand its recruitment during the next year.
