Public sector employment outlook drops to –3% in 2013

Private sector employment is expected to fill the gap left by public sector cuts after positive projections for 2013, an employment outlook survey claims.

Indications of the UK jobs market from Manpower suggest that the national employment outlook stands at +6% for the first quarter of 2013, double what was seen at the end of this year, as public sector hiring intentions fall to –3%.

While +3% rises are seen in the retail, wholesale, restaurant and hotel sector, construction has an employment outlook of –14%.

Positive employment figures are seen across England, Manpower states, the North West due to see +6% employment rises, the North East expecting increases of +4%, and the East and West Midlands +8% increases.

Employment rises projected in the East of England stand at +11%, while London and the South East will see +5% and +7% increases respectively.

However Scotland remains the only part of the UK to record a negative score for the first quarter of 2013 with a –1% employment outlook, while Northern Island records a score of 0%.

ManpowerGroup UK managing director, Mark Cahill, said: ‘It’s been well publicised that local councils across the UK have and continue to shed staff because of the austerity cuts, but this has created an opportunity for the private sector, albeit through part time/flexible contracts which are more cost-effective.

‘The silver lining to this cloud is that it now seems that the private sector is on track to plug the gap left by the public sector jobs cuts and in the first 6 months of this year we have seen public sector employment drop by 78,000 whereas private sector employment has increased by 497,0003,’ Cahill added.