Employer confidence in the transport and communications sector is positive for the first three months if the New Year, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today. The Transport sub-sector within the large sector, reported a slight increase in employer hiring intentions from this time last year.
Andrew Blakesley, director of Manpower Driving comments: “Employment prospects within the driving sector are particularly buoyant. Although our survey looks at employer hiring intentions in the Transport sector as a whole, which includes jobs in the air and rail industry, our current and forecasted business shows that job prospects in driving are increasingly on the rise. This is largely driven by the skills shortage facing the driving industry and the increasing demand clients have for good, quality drivers.”
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey provides a forecast of employer hiring intentions for the quarter ahead: January to March 2004. About 2,500 UK employers were surveyed in the UK and 35,000-plus employers in 18 countries globally. The Net Employment Outlook1 (the balance of employers forecasting to take on more staff) for the Transport and Communications sector is +13%. For the Transport sub-sector, prospects have improved from a Net balance of +3% last year to a balance of +5% for the first quarter of this year.
“The driving industry is now very much a drivers market with clients desperately looking to find trained, quality drivers to help them meet their distribution demands. Last year, the UK faced a 50,000-driver shortage, this year according to the FTA the LGV driver shortage could increase to 80,000. Manpower Driving is successfully helping to make a dent in this driver shortage by attracting drivers via our excellent pay rates, benefits package and by being a premium quality employer.”
