It's time to think about Christmas By Laura Hailstone
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LOGISTICS COMPANIES are gearing up for the busiest Christmas in years, according to the 04 Manpower Employment Outlook survey.
Although the transport sector as a whole has reduced its hiring intentions for 04 to a net employment outlook of +2% (compared with +3% in 03), there will be steady demand in the next three months for drivers of all types. "We are seeing a strong demand in the coming quarter for Class 1 and 2 drivers," said Simon Edwards, Manpower Group
sector director for logistics. "In support of a recovering construction sector, more of our customers are looking for Class 2 lorry loaders, as builders and related industries pick up. And postal and courier firms and retailers are looking for drivers for 7.5-tonne vehicles as the boom in home delivery continues," he added.
The Manpower survey asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming economic quarter. It is used as a key economic statistic by the Bank of England. Year-on-year, the transport
sector has improved its hiring intentions by five percentage points compared with 04 2012.
"This year we have noticed that several key clients are looking to take on staff much earlier in anticipation of peak demand, with some wanting staff in place as early as October. This is a marked difference to last year, when companies left it much later to take on staff — sometimes only a week before they were needed," said Edwards. He puts this down to a number of reasons. "There is a general feeling in the market that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good-quality and reliable drivers
for the home-delivery networks," said Edwards. "As this Christmas has all the hallmarks of being the busiest for online shopping, companies do not want to lose out on securing the best staff to cope with the additional demand."
The strongest hiring intentions for the October to December period were reported by the finance and business services sector with a +16% score. The UK's national employment outlook for 04 was +6%. • To read the survey in full, go to manpowergroup.co.uldresearch innovation/manpower-employ mentoutlook-survey