Tees Valley businesses hope for new year recruitment boom

Tees Valley businesses are hoping that experienced staff make job hunting a new year’s resolution, according to a business survey commissioned by Active Chartered Financial Planners.

The firm launched its quarterly Tees Valley Business Index in January, as a representative temperature check for enterprises across the five Teesside boroughs. The final survey of the year, covering the feelings of business owners in September to December, found that while 92 per cent of responders remained optimistic or very optimistic about the future, the perennial issue of recruitment was still on people’s minds.

Since the autumn Business Index survey, 85 per cent of respondents reported an increase in turnover and no respondents had seen a drop in the number of staff they employ. In all four surveys conducted this year, 100 per cent of respondents were positive or very positive about the future of Tees Valley as a hub for business and industry.

Fifty per cent of respondents cited recruitment and ‘finding the right people’ as their biggest issue, while several also commented on economic uncertainty, particularly with energy prices, was still a worry.

Karl Pemberton, managing director at Active Chartered Financial Planners said: “This year it has been fascinating to track the trends within Tees Valley businesses to get a sense check on how people are feeling, which is, in fact almost always optimistic.

“Watching the news, it’s easy to talk our way into a recession, however every quarter we’ve seen that organisations in the region are increasing staff numbers, higher turnover and a positive view for the coming months. The new year often sees a recruitment flurry, so it will be interesting to see what concerns business leaders are experiencing in early 2023, and how this compares to what we have seen this year.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily