More jobs for the boys?
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• Jobs agency Manpower predicts that recruitment is set to double in the transport industry, but leading operators have dismissed the findings as misguided post-election optimism.
Manpower's May survey, a few weeks after the Conservatives were returned to power, predicts that 18% of transport and distribution companies will recruit staff between July and September, compared to only 9% in the same quarter last year.
"Transport seems to be reflecting the slow recovery from the recession that has been forecast," says Maggie Bowen, Manpower marketing manager, who reckons job prospects are best in Scotland, East Anglia and the Midlands. The South offers no change and London faces more job cuts.
"There was a sort of euphoric feeling in business after the election, with everyone saying the economy would lift," says NFC, which adds that evidence of an upturn will be needed before it recruits more staff.
TDG sees no evidence of an improvement. don't expect the situation to change," says Brian Jones, group management adviser. "We are still winning contracts so there is a certain amount of recruitment of staff that are transferred. But these are not new jobs — we have also lost some people, so the numbers remain about even."
Christian Salvesen is more optimistic. "We are not surprised by the findings," says marketing manager Andy Collis.
Tim Inman, operations director of the Road Haulage Association, says the survey reflects "post-election optimism", not borne out by subsequent retail trends. "We are still bumping along the bottom — hauliers we speak to say they may have a good couple of weeks but that's followed by an awful couple of weeks," says Inman, The retail slump which is hitting distribution is given fresh evidence by a report from London-based Trade Indemnity which cites a 115% rise in business failures in the food distribution sector in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 1991. "We expected some failures after Christmas, but these figures raised our eyebrows," says Barbara Bennett, Trade Indemnity corporate affairs manager.
The TI report also reveals the extent of the problem of late payment with only 3% of companies getting paid on time and bills remaining outstanding for an average 27 days. But the report does suggest that commercial vehicle production is recovering "on the back of export orders".