Executive Recruitment
Unemployment – the facts
Gloom, gloom and more gloom… that’s the way it appears at the moment. Especially in light of the recent Labour Force Survey (LFS) statistics that show unemployment in the UK recently topping 2 million. Indeed, if you believe some economic commentators, the number of people out of work is set to reach 3.3 million before the end of this recession.
However, according to ONS figures February 2009 saw 249,700 people actually find work.
Admittedly this is still well under the 360,000 that became unemployed last month but it still represents an amount (albeit a small amount) of good news.
So, what does this mean? Well, the fact that nearly a quarter of a million people across the UK are still finding work indicates several things – all of which may well be relevant to the local economy.
Firstly it is safe to say that there is certainly a bigger pool of unemployed people looking to find work.
The second is that Job-Centres are providing a better service than they are perhaps being given credit for as well as (dare I say it) so are many private-sector recruitment firms!
Don’t forget that the number of people placed into work by local Job-Centres and the recruitment industry totals numbers well into the thousands every month.
Lastly, and certainly most significantly in my experience is that the newly unemployed are increasingly better-qualified than in the past and therefore easier to place into work.
One of the most striking of the recent labour market trends has been the willingness of employees to ‘stick their head above the parapit’ and look for another job despite the urge to stick with their current seemingly secure job in a kind of ‘better the devil you know’.
Depending on which unemployment statistics you choose, there are an average of between three and five unemployed people chasing every vacancy. No real surprises here then. Indeed, this was the case 1 year ago and 2 years ago and 5 years ago. Yes, there are more people out of work, but good jobs are still in demand as they always have been and good jobs always have and always will attract a great number of applicants.
And remember, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is the case for EVERY job.
These figures are averages and many vacancies remain unfilled as they are looking to attract skills which are in short supply – even in a recession.
For more information please contact cliff Sewell: T:0113 242 1200 E: cliff.sewell@sewellm.co.uk