The job prospects of large British companies improve but at the level of the labor market in general they remain “the least optimistic in Europe”, according to a study published on Tuesday by the Manpower recruitment cabinet.
“The UK is setting an example with its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, but it remains the sickest in Europe in terms of optimism for recruitment,” Chris Gray, a Manpower UK manager, was quoted as saying in a statement.
Manpower’s Labor Market Outlook Index rose one point to -5% for the UK for the second quarter compared to the first, but is still the lowest in Europe, below those of Italy or Spain.
Romania, Belgium, Sweden and the Czech Republic have higher rates.
“It was the worst 12 months for the job outlook in the UK and much worse than during the crisis of 2008-2009,” says Gray.
The unemployment rate is expected to hit 6.5% in the third quarter according to many economic forecasts. It is less than what was feared, which according to him is due to the confidence of the businessmen in a rebound as soon as the restrictions are lifted.
The UK reopened on Monday schools and non-essential shops will resume activity on April 12. The country expects a return to normality from the end of June.
But according to Gray, “most employers remain cautious and want to see the impact of the vaccination campaign and the long-term effects of Brexit before making major decisions about employment.”
It is extremely worrying that Brussels does not grant enough equivalences to the financial sector, the real engine of the British economy, because after the effective exit of the European single market, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange has doubled London in the European equity brokerage.
Gray notes, however, that “more than 1,000 financial services companies plan to establish offices to continue participating in the UK markets.”
Large companies with more than 250 employees are the most positive, with good recruitment prospects, thanks to the acceleration of digitization, but small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are very cautious because low income makes it difficult for them to move to the digital world and lay off more employees than they hire.
The ManpowerGroup investigation covered 1,515 UK companies.
ved / jbo / eb / erl / lda
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