Private sector jobs growth up – looking good for the future

Will the private sector prove to be strong enough to bring unemployment down and take us out of recession? A survey by Reed showed that employer demand is up by 25% over the last year, although demand fell slightly in March following sharp increases in January and February this year.

Private sector increases are responsible for the growth, with help from the recent surge in British manufacturing. Manufacturing, transport and logistics, engineering and construction firms have all shown very strong demand for staff. Other sectors, including the until recently languishing service sector, have also contributed, with Reed reporting growth across the board, from ‘strategy consultants to catering’.

With the CIPD predicting public sector job cuts of up to 200,000 this year, it is critical that employment growth in private business continues strongly. And whilst the CIPD believes that jobs growth in the sector in 2010 was ‘unexpectedly strong’, it is precisely this that the government is hanging their hopes of economic growth upon.

The beginning of April saw the implementation of the government’s new initiatives and regulations, largely aimed at promoting private enterprise and job creation by small and medium businesses. Whilst a number of the new regulations have been criticised by business federations and leaders, the majority of changes are aimed at boosting the private sector.

However a still frail economy and rising inflation add yet more uncertainly into the equation. It is not certain that private sector growth (both in terms of jobs and turnover), will in fact be able to counteract the deep cuts in the public sector as rapidly or effectively as we would wish. One thing that will be essential in the current unstable economic conditions, is an increase in public confidence – from large and small business as well as employees. Without confidence in the future, businesses will not invest in growth, and new entrepreneurs will not be drawn to start up new companies.

Whilst keeping a close eye on how things pan out over the next few weeks and months, and without ignoring genuinely constructive criticism, we should be supporting these largely positive changes from the government. Constant sniping and criticism from individuals, the media and business organisations, which started before these changes even came into being, can hardly be helpful. Britain’s private sector is certainly capable of bringing us out of this recession (in the long term it has to), yet with more confidence, and less cynicism, hopefully this will be sooner rather than later.

www.preludegroup.co.uk