How is the UK going to cope after Brexit? According to a report from IHS Markit data research firm, based on answers from over 400 recruitment agencies, demand for staff rose sharply across the private sector in April. However “demand for staff is growing within all sectors and all regions of the UK, but there are fewer and fewer people available to fill the vacancies” according to Kevin Green, CEO of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
The Guardian warns “employers in the UK are struggling to fill vacancies after the sharpest drop for more than a year in the number of available candidates, according to a report that points to more recruitment difficulties ahead once Brexit bites”.
Even before Brexit, firms are reporting skills shortages across a range of more than 60 roles, including engineers, IT specialists, care workers and accountants.
Source: IHS Markit
Anglo’s consultants have themselves noticed that there is specifically a lack of chartered Quantity Surveyors, which is reflected by the number of clients coming to us with the aim to fill these types of roles.
Some of the main reasons that have been put forward by the REC are that “people already in work are becoming more hesitant about moving jobs amid Brexit uncertainty and the weakening pound and lack of clarity about future immigration rules is putting off some EU nationals from taking up jobs in the UK”.
As demand for staff is growing in the UK and fewer people are becoming available to fill the vacancies, we wonder what impacts this long-standing issue will have on the UK economy as a whole.
Are UK Engineering contractors and consultancies going to lose work as a result? This is a highly plausible outlook. Are we right to assume that the knock-on effects will be seen in a few years when available vacancies might decrease and unemployment rise? Please do prove us wrong in the comments below.
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