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CEOs optimistic for UK recruitment in 2010 - PwC

Friday 29th January 2010

By Mike Jones

With 63% of UK CEOs believing recovery in the economy will occur in 2010 there are signs for cautious optimism according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 13th annual Global CEO survey, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

This rising confidence appears to have been translated into a boost in employment with 42% of UK business leaders planning to increase their headcount in the next 12 months. This response, combined with recent ONS unemployment figures showing a slight improvement, suggests the UK job market outlook is more positive than it has been for some time.

UK business leaders are more upbeat than their European counterparts when it comes to recruitment. In the Netherlands only 34% of CEOs expect to increase headcount, followed by France (30%), Italy (29%), Germany (27%) and Spain (9%) but while the UK is leading the European pack, further afield Brazil (61%), India (59%) and China (53%) are showing an even quicker return to bolstering their workforces.

Despite the positive outlook for employment, three-quarters of UK CEOs expect consumers will spend less and save more and, as a consequence, 63% plan to make some change to their business and a further 13% plan to make a significant change as they manage the impact of shifting consumer behaviour.

Since last year, a more positive outlook has emerged for the mergers and acquisitions market with 14% of business leaders (compared with 7% in 2009) now saying it is a route to growing their business, although this is some way behind pre-recession levels.

Business growth looks set to remain home grown as only 14% of UK CEOs in 2010 see new geographic markets as an opportunity to grow their business, compared with 22% in 2009 and 28% in 2008.

Ian Powell, UK Chairman and Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said: "It is encouraging to see that UK CEOs are beginning, if somewhat cautiously, to prepare for an upturn."

But he added a note of caution: "The upturn in employment prospects will be widely welcomed but this news must be tempered given that the bounce-back may be a response to employment cuts made in the UK over the last 12 months."

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Recruitment Today

End of beginning as downturn slows slightly
The seasonally-adjusted CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 42.9 in April from 39.1 the previous month, but was lower than last year’s figure of 49.7. Despite remaining below the neutral 50.0 mark (a figure less than 50 indicates a contraction) for the 13th month running, the PMI moved further from February’s joint survey record low.