Confidence among employers in transport and communications is weaker than at any time since the third quarter of 2003 with a net employment outlook of plus three per cent, according to Manpower’s latest quarterly survey.
While the outlook has remained relatively stable quarter-over-quarter declining by one percentage point, it has declined by a moderate seven percentage points year-over-year.
Looking at the unadjusted survey data, the outlook of plus three per cent is unchanged quarter-over-quarter, but hiring confidence has decreased by a considerable 11 percentage points year-over-year.
Hiring confidence among employers in the Transport sub-sector is plus three per cent, unchanged quarter-over-quarter, but 11 percentage points weaker year-over-year.
In the Telecommunications sub-sector, the outlook is also unchanged quarter-over quarter, at plus five per cent, but is moderately weaker year over year by five percentage points.
Overall, employers in the UK are downbeat about their hiring intentions for the fourth quarter of 2008. Of those surveyed, seven per cent anticipate an increase in hiring, but eight per cent expect a decrease, and 82 per cent expect no change.
The resulting net employment outlook is minus one per cent. The outlook is weaker by eight percentage points than the previous quarter and 14 percentage points weaker than the fourth quarter of 2007.
The outlook is the weakest reported by uk employers since the first quarter of 1999. Once seasonal variations are taken into account, the net employment outlook is a flat zero – five percentage points weaker than in the third quarter of 2008.
Year-over-year, the outlook for the UK has declined by a 14 percentage points. The seasonally adjusted outlook is at its weakest since the first quarter of 1994.
