Barclays Corporate Job Creation Survey 2011

Barclays Corporate Job Creation Survey 2011

Majority of UK Businesses Will Create Jobs, but Growth a Pre-requisite

The Barclays Corporate Job Creation Survey 2011 questioned 500 executives of UK businesses of all sizes and reveals that the majority of firms plan to create new jobs this year, but only if sales grow first:

· 57% of companies said they planned to create jobs over the coming 12 months. Large companies (turnover over £500m) were the most positive around job creation with 85% planning to create positions in 2011, all of them full time. Conversely, small businesses (turnover under £5m) were the most conservative, with only 41% set to create new jobs this year, and only half of these positions full time.

· Of the jobs to be created in 2011 in the UK, more than eight out of ten (82%) will be at junior/middle management or skilled labour level.

· When asked whether job creation would generate sales, or sales growth would lead job creation, more than three quarters, 78%, said growth needs to come first. This compares with 69% prior to the recession.

· Risk aversion jumped most in largest companies (turnover above £500m), with 74% putting sales growth before job creation now, compared with just 52% prior to the recession.

· When given a list of options on what would trigger job creation, demand came out on top with 59% of companies pointing to demand as the key to hiring. 12% stated that job creation would commence when they explore new markets, and 9% stating it would commence when they secure new finance (refinance as well as new equity or debt).

Commenting on this, Mike Daniels, Head of Business Services and Recruitment at Barclays Corporate, said:

“Job creation is vital for a sustainable economic recovery, and while these survey results are encouraging, they also highlight that many businesses remain risk adverse when it comes to creating new positions in order to drive growth.

“But if economic uncertainty is the new normal, confidence needs to come more from the ability to generate new orders and growth within a business, rather than focusing too heavily on the economic backdrop. Increased confidence and therefore investment feeds into a positive cycle in which job creation is an inevitable output. Banks have a key role to play in supporting this cycle.”

The independent research also revealed:

· When asked whether private sector job creation can compensate for public sector job losses, three quarters of business believe there will be a shortfall. Businesses stated they were looking to Government to help drive job creation, with an overwhelming 91% of companies stating Government policy is important in fostering job creation.

· Almost a third of companies would not consider employing ex-public sector workers, with 32% stating that they were ‘not at all interested’ in employing public sector workers that had lost their positions through Government spending cuts. Another 25% of private sector companies were ‘not very interested’ in employing those that had lost roles in the public sector.

· £100-500m turnover corporates were the most interested in hiring public sector workers with 54% stating they were quite or very interested in doing so, compared with 45% of the largest corporates (turnover over £500m). Whereas businesses with a turnover under £5m were the least interested with 54% stating they were not at all interested.

· Businesses showed scepticism around how equipped public sector workers that enter the job market would be to take on roles in the private sector. While a third of businesses believe public sector workers will be ‘quite well equipped’, another third believe the those from the public sector are ‘not very well equipped’, and a further 20% feel those coming from the public sector will not be equipped to take on roles in their organisation at all.

Mike Daniels commented:

“One of the interesting and slightly disturbing things to come out of the survey is that in some sectors there is an aversion to hiring public sector workers, believing they are not suitably skilled. Our principle is to take an individual on their own merit. It is short sighted if employers are not prepared to look more closely at an individual’s experience, work ethic and ability to learn.”