A Very Positive Outlook For UK Manufacturing Hiring 2017/2018

UK Manufacturing Showing Growth Q2 2017

In July 2017 the pace of growth in the UK’s manufacturing sector picked up for the first time in three months, according to latest industry surveys;

• The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showed manufacturers have seen a big increase in export orders thanks to the cheaper pound
• The latest CBI Industrial Trends survey also showed “that UK manufacturers are on the march, with production and orders growing strongly, but with the challenges posed by Brexit, everything possible must be done to ensure they can stay ahead of the game. It is a time to build the confidence to invest and export, creating new high quality jobs across the country.”

In Scotland manufacturing has also experienced a ‘remarkable quarter’ (Q2 2017) with strong demand expected to continue, according to the CBI.

UK Manufacturing Hiring On The Increase 2017/2018

As export manufacturing activity has picked up, supported by the depreciation of the pound and an upturn in the global economy overall this has encouraged manufacturers to invest more in improve efficiencies and expanding capacity – factories are ramping up production at their fastest pace since 1995 and manufacturers expect to accelerate at a 40-year high in the months ahead, on strong demand from the UK and abroad.

As a result, manufacturers are hiring fast to cope with this surge in exports and are also spending more money on training their staff, the CBI survey showed, which “indicates that manufacturers are taking steps to address a much-anticipated skills shortage”.

The CBI survey showed hiring intentions over the three-month period improved abd manufacturing employee headcount increased at its fastest rate for three years;  “Output growth among UK manufacturers is the highest we’ve seen since the mid Nineties, prompting the strongest hiring spree we’ve seen in the last three years. Cost pressures are easing and firms are upbeat about the outlook for export orders,” said the CBI’s chief economist Rain Newton-Smith.

In fact, manufacturing showed the biggest growth in UK vacancies in Q2 2017 at 24% ahead of the charity, automotive, social care, property services, and recruitment, engineering, design, agriculture and construction sectors.