Barclays Employers Survey 2014 – Telecoms companies set to create more jobs than in any other sector

27 January, 2014 – The Barclays Employers Survey 2014, which questioned nearly 700 UK businesses, has revealed that 77% of the telecoms companies surveyed will be creating new roles (2013: 69%), the greatest number of all the sectors surveyed. It is also the sector most likely to increase wages in the year ahead, with 77% reporting that it would do so.

The sector’s intention to create new jobs is now considerably further ahead of the national cross-sector average, which revealed 49% of all companies plan to create new jobs this year.

Of those telecoms firms which are hiring, there are opportunities for new staff at every level, with more senior management positions likely to be created (47%) than any other sector (2013: 39%). 96% of the sector will be creating jobs in middle management or skilled positions (2013: 79%), and 60% are likely to create jobs at entry level, which is a significant rise from last year (2013: 27%).

Employees in the telecoms sector are also some of the most open to flexible working practices, with 83% more open to flexitime than they would have been five years ago and 70% said that that they were more likely to let their employees work from home, compared to five years previously. In fact, 13% will base new staff at home permanently, more than any other sector.

There has been a steady decline in the sector of the number of companies believing that sales increases will lead to job creation, rather than creating jobs to drive sales (2014: 62%, 2013: 67%, 2012: 77%). This indicates that firms in the sector are slowly feeling more confident about creating jobs to drive business growth.

Further findings relating to the telecoms sector:

• 53% are looking to hire freelancers or contractors this year, with 45% doing so because they have a particular skill, while 42% will hire them due to the flexibility they offer.
• 52% of firms are more confident about the economy than they were this time last year.
• 46% think the worst is behind them in terms of the Eurozone crisis, while 15% think the worst is to come. 32% think it’s neither any worse not any better.
• 46% said they struggled to get the skilled labour they need.

Commenting on the findings, Andrew Skinner, Relationship Director, Barclays’ Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) team, said: “This is a sector looking to invest in people right across the board, which is great to see. After an extended period of wage freezes, which have been tough for employees, it’s good to see that so many employers will also be increasing wages in the coming year. This can only have a positive effect on employee morale and the UK economy.”

Other national cross sector finding

• Mid-sized businesses* are leading the way with job creation, with 68% creating jobs this year (2013:  71%)
• Across all businesses, the figure stands at 49% (2013:56% ), while positively, the vast majority (90%) of businesses are not planning any job losses within the next 12 months (2013: 79%).
• Further to this, 57% of businesses are planning to increase wages in the year ahead, with 39% planning to increase them for their entire workforce.
• Prior to last week’s falling unemployment announcement, only 14% of survey respondents thought that unemployment levels would fall far enough to trigger an interest rate rise in 2014.

 

Almost a third (32%) thought an interest rate rise would be in 2015 and 44% of the largest companies surveyed thought it would be in 2016 or later

• 82% of businesses won’t be creating zero hour contracts this year, although 13% plan to.
• 37% of businesses will be hiring freelancers or contractors next year, with 45% of those doing because they are more flexible and 44% saying that it is because they have a particular skill.
• 71% of businesses still believe sales increases lead to job creation, rather than believing job creation can drive sales, however this is a downward trend over the past four years (2013: 73%, 2012: 77%, 2011: 78%).

 

*Sizes of businesses surveyed

 

Small businesses – turnover of up to £5m

Mid-sized businesses – turnover £5m-<£20m

Large Businesses – turnover of £20m – £100m

Larger businesses – turnover of £100m – <£500m

Largest businesses – turnover of £500m+

 

The Barclays Job Creation Survey 2014 was undertaken in November-December 2014 by Critical Research, and surveyed 684 UK businesses of all sizes.