ONS job figures suggest FM market is set for growth
The latest UK unemployment figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed continued growth in employment nationwide, with employment increasing by 3,000 and unemployment decreasing by 55,000. Pay rates have also risen, with the latest estimates showing that average weekly earnings for employees increased by 2.9% excluding bonuses, and by 2.6% including bonuses, compared with a year earlier.
According to both Alpesh Paleja, CBI Principal Economist, and Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy at the CIPD the labour market still remains tight, with said Paleja: “unemployment still at its lowest since 1975.”
Said Willmott: “These latest figures suggest employment has stopped growing, at least temporarily - a possible sign the UK labour market is finally beginning to run out of people, rather than a signal that employer demand for labour and skills is drying up.”
He added: “However, the increasing challenge that employers face in accessing the labour and skills they need is only translating into very modest pay growth for most workers, with real pay near flatlining over the last 12 months. Until we see sustainable improvements in productivity growth this picture is unlikely to change.”
So how will this impact the FM jobs market?
According to Alexandra Hewitt, Senior Recruitment Consultant for Workplace and FM at CRG TEC following a challenging period, the FM jobs picture could be improving.
She said: “The end of 2017 and beginning of 2018 was a tumultuous time for the FM market in general, which was reflected in job opportunities within the sector. With numerous high-profile mergers and acquisitions going through plus the upheaval caused by the collapse of Carillion most hiring managers and HR professionals were preoccupied with TUPEs in Q1 and 2.
“From there time is needed for the dust to settle, people to adjust to new roles and organisations to acclimatise to new structure, even those companies not directly involved wanted to see what the new FM landscape looked like.
“Summer 2018 provided that hiatus and now I’d anticipate the facilities job market to pick up with renewed vigour as departments have had chance to assess their new-look teams and identify gaps in their skill set, driven either by internal improvement or external stakeholder demand.”
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