Transport job level falls
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• If you are an unemployed HGV driver, titter or transport manager, your chances of finding a job in the immediate future could be bleak.
Only 8% of haulage companies plan to take on employees before March, compared with 16% in the same period last year, according to the latest quarterly survey by employment agency Manpower. At least 10% of transport firms expect to shed staff between now and March, giving what Manpower calls a balance of job increases over cuts of —2. In the same period last year, there was a surplus of six.
Transport, which is often regarded as a barometer of the industry, fares better than industry as a whole. Across all business sectors 3% more jobs will be lost than gained in the period to March — this is the first time since 1983 that Manpower's figure has been negative.
Some regions are doing better than others. Scots managers are optimistic about immediate job prospects, and some growth is expected in the North-East, Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands and South Wales — all areas with a high concentration of haulage firms. Harder hit are the North-West, London and the Home Counties, East Anglia and the West.
Information for Manpower's Survey of Employment Prospects was gathered from interviews with senior managers in November.