By Ian McConnell
SCOTTISH businesses’ employment intentions have strengthened significantly since the start of the year, and the proportion anticipating redundancies has dropped sharply, a survey shows.
The proportion of Scottish employers looking to make redundancies has settled at around nine per cent, having been 32% last summer, the survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows.
A net 29% of Scottish employers plan to increase their total staff level during the three months to September, with 39% projecting a rise and 10% forecasting a decline. This represents a strong firming of Scottish companies’ employment intentions, with only a net 4% having projected an increase in total staffing back in January on a three-month horizon. The latest survey included 142 Scottish employers.
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A net 32% of employers in the UK as a whole forecast a rise in total staffing levels over the three months to September.
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Looking at hiring intentions among Scottish employers, as opposed to anticipated changes in total staffing levels, the survey found 67% plan to recruit in the three months to September, up from 45% six months ago and 41% at this time last year.
Across the UK, 72% of employers in the hospitality, arts and entertainment sector are now looking to hire. This is up from just 26% last summer. In the UK transport and storage sector, the proportion of employers looking to hire has increased to 65% this summer. This is up from 33% last summer.
CIPD said: “Both of these sectors have been impacted by the pandemic and changes to immigration as a result of Brexit, and are suffering from widely reported labour shortages.”
Lee Ann Panglea, head of CIPD Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “We are seeing a significant improvement in Scottish employer confidence, especially compared with the figures we recorded this time last year. Employers are very optimistic, indicating strong recruitment intentions, and redundancy expectations appear much lower than originally predicted during the pandemic.”
The survey found 77% of Scottish employers plan a pay review during the 12 months to June 2022. Of these employers, 37% expect to award a pay increase, 7% forecast a freeze and only 2% see a decrease, while 39% said it is hard to tell and will depend on performance.
Median basic annual pay settlements across the UK remain at 2%, the same as the previous quarter but up from the 1% reported for four consecutive quarters in 2020, the survey found.
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