Over half (56%) of firms in the media sector will create jobs this year, consistent with the national cross sector average, according to new research from Barclays.
The Barclays Job Creation Survey 2013, which questioned over 700 UK businesses, has revealed that 56% of firms in the media sector will be creating new jobs this year (2012: 66%), which is consistent with the national cross sector average (56%). In further positive news, 84% of media firms are not expecting to lose jobs this year.
This year, 28% of media companies will be creating senior management roles and 91% will be creating middle management or skilled positions (2012: 39% and 83%). 39% of media firms surveyed are also planning to create entry-level roles (2012: 48%)
However, over half (56%) of media firms stated that they are not interested in taking on ex-public sector workers, although they are more open to it than last year (2012: 67%).
Other findings from the media industry:
• 55% of firms think that private sector job growth will not be able to compensate for public sector job losses, and of those 24% think there will be a major shortfall. (2012: 72% and 33%).
• 79% said that the Government’s efforts to remove barriers to job creation are having no impact on their business, although this is an improvement on last year (2012: 97%).
• 57% of businesses believe that sales increases lead to job creation, rather than creating jobs in order to drive sales (2012: 68%).
• 62% of firms believe that a reduction in Employer’s National Insurance will cause a change to the job market. This makes the Chancellor’s recent Budget announcement to waive the first £2000 of employers’ contributions exactly what businesses want.
• 40% think the Government’s “Shares for Rights” scheme*, designed for high growth SMEs, will not be popular and 31% had not heard of it.
Commenting on these findings, Sam Kemp, Corporate Director, Barclays Technology, Media and Telecoms team, said: “It’s positive to see that the media industry is still looking to create new roles this year and despite the challenging economic conditions, most aren’t planning to lose jobs. As consumers spend increasing amounts of time consuming TV and going to the cinema there will continue to be a need for talented people to work in the industry.
“In the digital marketing space we have also seen significant growth as big brands look to develop different ways of connecting with consumers. Naturally, these brands will need strong teams in place to help achieve these aspirations.”
Other national cross sector findings:
The survey also revealed that 71% of mid-sized businesses** are creating jobs this year, up on the previous year (2012: 65%). There is also positive news in that the majority (79%) of businesses are not planning any job losses within the next 12 months.
However, 57% of all businesses state they do not want to hire ex-public sector workers, an impression that has remained constant over the past two years (2012: 58%, 2011: 57%).
There are significant differences in hiring intentions for 2013 between sizes of companies:
• Only 48% of small businesses are creating jobs this year – the least likely out of the companies surveyed (2012: 51%).
• 65% of large businesses are planning to create jobs – fewer than last year (2012: 72%).
• 50% of the largest businesses are planning to hire, a significant reduction in hiring intention, compared to previous years (2012: 70%, 2011: 85%).
Regarding UK businesses’ view of public sector workers and Government initiatives:
• 56% of businesses believe that there will be a shortfall of private sector job growth compensating for public sector job losses. However, this is more optimistic than last year (2012: 71%).
• 60% of the UK’s largest companies are now willing to hire ex-public sector workers, showing the biggest change of attitude, compared to last year (2012: 38%). They are also the turnover group most likely to say that ex-public sector workers are “quite well” or “very well” equipped to take on a role in their business.
• 52% of UK businesses believe public sector workers are ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ equipped to take on a position in their organisations (2012: 53%).
• The vast majority of companies (83%) believe that Government efforts to remove barriers to job creation are having no impact on their business, although this is a slight improvement on last year (2012: 88%).
The Barclays Job Creation Survey 2013 was undertaken in January-February 2013 by Critical Research, and surveyed over 700 UK businesses of all sizes.
Source: www.barclays.com.
