Partner Article

New Year, New Job

More than a third of employees in the UK are currently looking for a new job, nearly double the level of last year[1]. January presents employees with the opportune time to begin a new job hunt, as people feel motivated by the desire for a fresh challenge in the year ahead. In line with this, Ionic Recruitment, the specialist recruitment consultancy within Construction, Social Housing and Maintenance sectors, is predicting a 30% surge in employment enquiries from candidates looking for a new role in early 2015.

In January 2014, Ionic observed a 20% per cent increase in the number of candidates on their books. This corresponded with a 40% increase in enquiries from prospective employers in the first quarter of the year, as companies looked to fill employment gaps. These figures are predicted to rise in 2015 thanks to the growing confidence within the construction industry.

The construction industry contributes almost £90 billion to the UK economy (or 6.7%)[2] and it is currently experiencing a very strong period of growth. The industry’s rapid expansion is responsible for creating a wealth of employment opportunities. As market conditions have improved, people have become more confident about changing employers and the companies who haven’t acted fast enough to implement retention strategies have ended up losing their ‘top talent’ to competitor businesses. This has created employment gaps, which companies are keen to fill with apprentices and skilled labourers

Ionic’s Managing Director, Martyn Makinson, said: “As the construction industry continues to boom, candidates can be selective about the companies that they choose to work for. It’s currently very much a candidate’s market, and so recruitment agencies are more necessary to clients than ever before in order to both discover and recommend the best talent.

“With the New Year being the job-hunting peak for the UK’s workforce, employers should consider January as the most favourable time to search for fresh talent. There is also an overriding sense that now is the time for employers to examine their tactics when it comes to competing for the best staff and retaining employees.

“At Ionic, we are investing our efforts and time into reaching out and speaking to new potential candidates, in order to bridge the employment gaps for our clients. The job market will be more buoyant and mobile in January than throughout the rest of the year, so time is of the essence.”

[1] Institute of Leadership and Management

[2] Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2013

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