UK job prospects are likely to receive a boost over the next quarter according to the latest Manpower quarterly employment survey.
Twenty-four per cent of companies plan to take on more staff over the quarter with just nine per cent expecting to make cuts. The rest plan no changes.
Iain Herbertson, managing director of Manpower, said: "This quarter mirrors the previous quarter's results with a balance of 15 per cent of companies planning to take on more staff.
“These latest findings show a sustained recovery from the beginning of the year when employment prospects were at their lowest point in eight years.”
Public sector jobs growth is expected to be one of the main drivers of employment prospects in the next three months.
For example, a balance of 28 per cent of employers in the health sector expect to take on more staff. Additionally, public administration and defence, in the doldrums for much of the last decade, showed a balance in favour of job growth of 19 per cent.
The upbeat outlook was also mirrored by the US equivalent of the survey which revealed that 19 per cent of US companies expected to take on more staff in the next quarter.
Herbertson said: “Although prospects have not yet recovered – they are 25 per cent down year on year – there is stable growth, which also suggests business confidence is returning following the impact of last year’s downturn and the terrorist attacks on America.
“The recent UK downturn in job prospects was led by the US, so the recovery we are seeing in the US is good reason to hope that prospects in the UK will continue to improve.”
It wasn’t all good news however. London recorded its worst results in nearly decade with a balance of just eight per cent planning to take on more staff as IT, telecoms and banking staffing levels continued to come under pressure.
Herbertson said: “It is still tough going for the capital, but the balance of employers taking staff on is the same as last quarter, so we hope the region has stabilised and will now turn the corner for growth.”