HR Industry News

Recruitment market proves resilient, for now

— 18 April 2008 —

Greater numbers of people are in employment, according to the latest official labour market statistics published 17 April by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In the three months leading up to February, employment was up 152,000, with proof of an increase in the number of job vacancies and fewer redundancies. Indeed, the number of people in employment is up 450,000 on a year ago, representing the biggest rise for a decade.

Employment Minister Stephen Timms hailed the figures as “superb” and claimed that the “evidence is that we are weathering things well”. However, John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), sounded a note of warning:

“It is still too early […] to breathe a sigh of relief. Much will depend on the severity of the economic slowdown and the impact this has on business and consumer confidence. Indeed, the official jobs statistics paint a far rosier picture of the state of the labour market than independent surveys, including those conducted regularly by the CIPD and KPMG. These point to weaker hiring intentions and the prospect of substantial job losses – and are somewhat more in keeping with news emerging daily from the City and those parts of the retail sector hardest hit when increasingly cash-strapped households cut back on non-essential spending.”

Data also showed a drop in the average number of hours worked, down to 31.9 a week, while earnings growth slowed to 3.7% in the three months leading up to February, down from 3.9% in the three months to January.

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