UK jobs market to defy Brexit gloom in 2017, says CBI

jobs

The country’s jobs-rich recovery will be given a big boost as “almost every part” of the private sector hires more staff over the next 12 months, the UK’s business group’s annual employment survey found, the Telegraph reports.

The research showed 41 per cent of companies expect to grow their workforces in 2017, compared with just 13 per cent that believe their payrolls will shrink.

It polled 353 large and small businesses employing almost 1.2 million people, and found that the pace of jobs creation is likely to be highest in science, IT and construction.

At 28 per cent, it is the sixth consecutive year where the balance of businesses that expect to add staff has been 20 per cent or more.

The survey also flies in the face of dire warnings from the Treasury, which said Brexit risked half a million job losses and the CBI’s own commissioned report that warned before the referendum that leaving the EU could cost 950,000 jobs by 2020.

Josh Hardie, deputy director of the CBI, said the UK’s chronic skills shortage remained one of the “biggest worries for the future”, as well as access to “highly skilled migrants” if the UK limits immigration from the EU after Brexit.

The survey also showed half of companies surveyed believed the UK will become less attractive over the next five years.

Mr Hardie backed calls by Chancellor Philip Hammond and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to “build on the positive moves it has already made to dispel uncertainty by drawing up plans for a smooth transition”.

He said this would give companies the time and confidence to adapt to new regulations after the UK leaves the EU.

While more companies expect to increase pay this year in line with inflation than a year ago, the CBI warned that the introduction of a higher minimum wage risked damaging future investment as it warned policymakers to “carefully monitor” future increases.

The survey showed that, while 41 per cent expect to absorb costs, a quarter said they would raise prices in response to increases, while 16 per cent signalled they would make overall pay and benefits packages less attractive.