Which industry is the most confident about hiring?

The science and pharmaceutical market is currently the most confident regarding hiring new staff during the COVID-19 crisis.

This is according to Nexus Global, a company that brings compliance and regulatory support to financial advisory firms, Business Confidence Report. The company has listed the most to least confident sectors. They are:

Industry                                                      Hiring new employee’s confidence score

• Science and pharmaceutical                   5.56
• Law                                                              5.4
• Finance                                                       5.13
• Automotive                                                5.11
• Insurance                                                   5
• Healthcare                                                 5
• Recruitment and HR                                5
• Charity and volunteering                        4.9
• Marketing/ advertising                            4.9
• Business consultancy and management 4.67
• Engineering/construction                       4.49
• Training and education                           4.43
• Retail                                                          4.33
• Environment/agriculture                        3.86
• Hospitality                                                 3.6
• Creative arts                                             3.44
• Travel                                                         2.6
• Leisure                                                      1

Nexus Global asked 500 senior managers how confident they feel in regards to hiring new employees using a scale of 1-10.

On 27/07/20 the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) ‘JobsOutlook’ found that confidence in making hiring and investment decisions rose to +4 in the first half of July. This is the first time since lockdown began, hiring and investment confidence has returned to positive territory.

At the time Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said:

It’s good to see employer confidence rising as the lockdown measures ease – at this stage we would expect things to be getting better month-by-month. Even at times like these, there are always opportunities out there for jobseekers. But businesses are still very worried about the overall outlook for the economy, and while some are hiring, many are having to make tough decisions around laying people off.

It’s too early to tell how quickly the economy will recover, but there are steps the Government can take to keep firms hiring and boost growth – including a more flexible skills system and a reduction in the government’s payroll tax, National Insurance, to reduce the cost of hiring. Equally, it’s vital that we secure a good Brexit trade deal and deliver a workable immigration system on time to build up confidence and business investment here in the UK.

However, employer’s confidence in the wider economy remains low at net -40. This number is still low despite the figure actually growing from month to month.

The REC’s ‘JobOutlook’ is produced in partnership with Savanta ComRes, a market research consultancy where they ask 200 UK employer’s opinions.

Darius McQuaid

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Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.

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