Manpower UK statement on unemployment figures released

As expected, government unemployment figures released today indicate that the number of unemployed people has increased since the last quarter up to 1.92 million.

Manpower believe that in the short term, we will continue to see employers making cuts across their workforce – both with their temporary and permanent staff.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results indicate that employer hiring intentions will be at a 15 year low for January to March 2009. The survey which is based on responses from 2,100 UK employers regarding their hiring intentions for the quarter ahead, shows that employer optimism is down with a Net Employment Outlook of -2%.

Although the mood is largely one of uncertainty: eight out of 10 employers intend to see how their businesses perform in the first three months of 2009 before making any changes to staffing levels.

However, as businesses adjust and reassess their workforce needs, we are more likely to see employers hire temporary over permanent staff until such time as the economic outlook stabilises. The lure of a temporary workforce is that it is highly flexible and in Manpowerís case, offers minimal employer liability.

Employers should look at redeploying their existing workforce or consider creative solutions that will allow them to retain their workforce during this difficult time, before making redundancies.

Mass redundancies should be the last resort, particularly if the economic climate or individual businessí circumstances suddenly improve and employers need to take advantage of an upturn, quickly and effectively.

The loss of intellectual capital through redundancies and the cost of training and developing new staff when the business climate improves should not be underestimated.

We are seeing evidence, across Manpowerís business, of more reserved client orders. However, a skills shortage remains across certain sectors e.g. specialist engineers to work in the aeronautical industry and qualified drivers.

There will be times when jobseekers approach our branch and we wonít have immediate work for them. But while they wait for us to find them employment, we are committed to advising them and offering free training and development in new areas they wouldnít previously have considered like the Public Sector.

Itís most definitely an employersí market out there. With fewer jobs available and more applicants for each job, the strongest CV will win. Jobseekers should constantly look to retrain and up-skill and be open to taking on jobs that they may not have considered when opportunities in the labour market were more abundant.

The result is a better candidate for Manpower and our clients and a more skilled and flexible jobseeker that has made valuable use of their time while looking for work.

For more information, please visit www.manpower.co.uk