Latest job figures highlight optimism among employers

Tuesday, 6th December 2011

New job opportunities have risen to their highest level for almost two years and employer demand for new staff is 20% higher than at the same time last year, according to figures published today.

The figures, taken from November 2011 and released in the latest monthly Reed Job Index, contrast with ongoing gloomy economic forecasts and suggest an optimism among recruiters.

The growth continues the upward trend highlighted in Reed's figures from October, and marks the highest level of job opportunities recorded by the Reed Job Index since it began in December 2009.

Reed says that the growth in new jobs has been led by London, the South-East and the North-West, and job growth has been recorded in more than half of the UK areas analysed. However, growth has not been seen across all areas of the UK, with five out of the 12 areas tracked by the index - including Wales, Scotland and the North-East of England - recording falls in employer demand in November.

The figures highlight an increase in employer demand across a range of sectors, led by technical roles such as engineering and IT alongside service sector roles such as accountancy, leisure and tourism. Unsurprisingly, this contrasts with public sector activity, which has fallen by 5% month on month.

James Reed, chairman of Reed Global, commented on the Reed Job Index for November: "The latest Reed Job Index shows that confidence about the future has continued to increase right across the private sector, in spite of last week's gloomy economic pronouncements. Not only is employer demand up by 20% year on year, newly available private sector jobs are at their highest level since the dark days which followed the last banking crisis. There are even signs that the British economy is rebalancing towards the industrial sector, with demand for technical staff such as engineering and IT specialists 90% higher now than when our index began 23 months ago.

(Source: www.personneltoday.com from article by John Eccleston 05/12/11)

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