Construction Jobs: Outlook for 2012

    LONDON, ENGLAND, March 07, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The current economic climate has, of course, negatively affected many areas of construction, with publically funded sectors finding themselves particularly hard hit. Private sector construction has also slowed in line with the sluggish housing market.

A challenging economy

Last year saw many project approvals being shelved, marking a decline in projects starts. Positively though, the retail sector proved an exception to the rule and recorded a 50% rise in the underlying value of planning approvals and starts on site. This growth is thanks to supermarkets rapidly expanding their store networks, injecting a wave of new work into the sector.

Although ONS figures show some uninspiring output levels throughout 2011, there were some pockets of growth, albeit small, in comparison with the previous year. For the most part though, overall construction output was fairly flat over the second quarter of the year, after two consecutive quarters of decline.

The prediction for publically funded sectors, such as education and health, is predicting further drops of 20% and 22% respectively. However, there is some light amongst the gloom, with several large projects in view, such as an additional 21 local transport schemes, for the coming 12 months.

In terms of future activity, private housing, industrial and commercial sectors are predicted growth of 20%, 19% and 22% respectively.

Into 2012

In terms of recruitment, hiring decisions have been hampered by economic uncertainty throughout 2011, with many firms reluctant to take on permanent hires. Due to reduced certainty of projects in the pipeline, hiring managers are mainly offering fixed-term contracts, particularly at the lower levels.

This year, we anticipate these recruitment trends to continue but hopefully with some improvements on the horizon. It's hoped that private sector commercial activity will build and strengthen over this next year to compensate, in part, for the continued cutbacks in government funded work.

A positive start to the year, for both the public and private sector, is the unveiling of the Airport City project by George Osborne in January, a GBP695m mixed use international business centre. Based in and around Manchester International Airport, it's the focal point of the new Manchester Enterprise Zone and is predicted to create up to 13,000 jobs.

Michael Page Construction has won a bid to recruit multiple roles for the scheme, so please keep an eye on our construction jobs to see if the Airport City or any other jobs are of interest. To discuss your construction recruitment requirements, contact us today.

Website: http://www.michaelpage.co.uk

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