Tech cities in UK are closing in on the Capital

The UK’s digital industry continues to boom as a result of continuous advancements in technology. Whilst London has always been the hotspot for many sought-after tech jobs, this past year we’ve seen other areas of the country experiencing rapid growth, with a 23% annual uplift in hiring demand outside of the Capital.

The recent Experis Tech Cities Job Watch report reveals how the digital landscape outside of the Capital continues to grow from strength to strength as businesses try to attract the best talent – and judging on the performance over the past year, we’re likely to see the numbers continue to increase.

The Capital is still at the forefront of the tech industry, offering the most jobs and highest salaries, yet other cities are growing at a faster rate than London. We’re seeing most growth in the north, with tech hubs like Manchester and Leeds in particular having established themselves as attractive alternatives. This comes as no surprise, given the tech history that’s been part of these cities and the recent influx of digital start-ups. But what has been causing this shift towards cities outside of the Capital?

Companies looking to secure talent everywhere

With housing, travel and lifestyle costs continuing to soar in London, people are increasingly growing tired of the rat race lifestyle, which is likely to be one of the reasons other tech cities are on the rise. That is also why an increasing number of London-based companies are establishing themselves outside of the Capital to ensure they don’t miss out on hiring the right talent, particularly those who aren’t attracted to the London life.

We’re also seeing further investments in the infrastructure of rail and road, such as the Northern Hub plans. This will further improve connections between towns and cities, helping companies engage talent pools from further afield. Commuters will also be getting faster, more regular and better connections, for which we’re expecting to see more opportunities moving north.

So is it a good thing that tech cities across the UK are closing in on the Capital? In our opinion, yes – each of the tech hubs offer their own set of diverse opportunities for all types of businesses and IT professionals. We’re certainly seeing big potential but there’s still room for growth. Although many cities have a well-invested infrastructure, low cost of housing and ease of travel, we may still find people being reluctant to be based further north. But as these cities are growing increasingly attractive, we’re expecting the gap to narrowing down further and at a faster rate.

Read more in Experis’ Tech Cities Job Watch Q1 2016 report.

Looking for IT roles? Find out more here.

Where are all the jobs? A Q3 2016 forecast

We know that understanding what’s coming next in the world of work is vital, if your business is to harness new opportunities and address the challenges that arise.

And yet, most employment studies and surveys are retrospective. They don’t look at what’s going to happen in the labour market, but on what’s already been and gone – but not us.

Every quarter, we interview around 2,100 UK employers about their hiring intentions for the next three months. We ask if they intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter. It’s not about what has happened already, but what’s to come, and it’s used as a key economic indicator by both the Bank of England and the UK government.

Insights from UK employers

Last week we released our insights for Q3 2016, and for the first time in over a decade, employers in the Construction sector are the most positive out of all of the sectors we interviewed. It’s quite a change of fortunes for an industry which was in negative territory just six months ago.

We’ve also found that recruitment prospects in the Transport sector are stronger than both last quarter and the same period of 2015. Seeing such positive hiring intentions is great news for the industry, but severe talent shortages are stalling progress. Employers in the Transport sector must collaborate further and work with the right partners, if they’re to identify top talent and fill vital vacancies.

Hiring intentions in the Energy sector are looking strong too, fuelled by government initiatives to install smart meters in Britain’s homes. Employers are on the hunt for new employees to support these systems – individuals who possess certain qualifications, and who can explain the benefits of this new technology and how to use it to customers. Finding these individuals, however, is difficult. To help overcome this shortage, businesses need to think about how to better engage, attract and train young people that have finished school, but are currently out of work.

At the other end of the scale, employment prospects are looking less rosy in the Retail, Wholesale and Hospitality sectors, reporting the biggest fall in hiring intentions for two years.

Positivity in every UK region

When looking at the results for each region of the UK, it’s great to see that for the second successive quarter, every region of the country reports a positive outlook. The West Midlands and Wales are the most positive regions, followed by the North East, East, and the East Midlands.

Outside the North East, the Northern Powerhouse has struggled, with Yorkshire & Humberside reporting the least optimistic Outlook of the country. Optimism is low across the South of England, with falling Outlooks in London, the South East, and the South West. Hiring intentions have dropped in Scotland and Northern Ireland too.

For the results from every region and sector, download the full Employment Outlook Survey.

Firms battle to attract big data experts

In today’s digital world, the ability to collect and analyse the right kind of information from multiple data sources is critical for companies to grow and remain competitive.

In recent years, Big Data has become a key player in providing companies who have harnessed its potential with new intelligence and valuable insight in a number of ways, including: giving information on business performance for better decision-making, forecasting, and improving the development of products and services that are tailored to their customers’ wants and needs, to name just a few examples. Companies like Amazon and Netflix use Big Data to analyse every step of a customer’s online journey and personalise their offerings based on the customers’ behaviours to keep them coming back.

Increasing opportunities, lack of education

Although Big Data has been around for a number of years and its adoption is on the rise, there are still a number of organisations missing out as a result of a lack of knowledge and skills. Increasingly, clients are asking IT service providers for Big Data solutions, but not everyone is equipped to provide it. Aside from the cost implications, other reasons could include lack of expertise, with organisations not knowing how they can benefit from using it; the approach appearing overly complicated and time-consuming to be implemented; or simply because there’s a shortage of Big Data professionals.

IT professionals in companies already using Big Data are getting increasingly dexterous at collecting and processing bigger data sets. Yet much territory is still unexplored. We hear of companies collecting vast amounts of data that they don’t understand how to maximise, and others missing out on gaining any useful insights from it. Having the right skills is essential – it’s not just about adopting a new technology, it’s also about having the ability to create, analyse and interpret this data to see the bigger picture. On this basis, we expect seeing companies offering more opportunities for Big Data professionals, as reflected in our recent Tech Cities Job Watch report.

Security concerns around Big Data

With ever-increasing volumes of data being collected, there are growing concerns over data protection and privacy. Companies must have adequate tools and measures in place to process and store the data, keep it up-to-date and prevent unauthorised access. It’s not enough to simply collect a vast amount of data for the sake of gathering as much information as possible – it’s important to manage it properly. With security measures such as the EU Data Protection Regulation coming into place, companies are required to have the right capabilities and compliance skills in-house to ensure they avoid being in breach of this regulation as this could mean risking stiff penalties.

Surging wages

These factors have pushed companies to compete for the best Big Data talent, to ensure they have the right capabilities in-house. This is further reflected in the Tech Cities Job Watch report which highlighted an annual rise of 8.14% in perm salaries for Big Data roles, three times higher than the Bank of England’s forecasted wages increase for Britain (3%).

With data becoming more accessible and companies waking up to the value it can bring to their bottom line, employers are now willing to pay more for professionals who can transform facts and figures into actionable insights and remain compliant. Vice versa, individuals with these capabilities will be well placed to command the bigger salaries, over the coming years.

Read more in Experis’ Tech Cities Job Watch Q1 2016 report.
Looking for Big Data jobs? Find out more here.

Proservia launches in the UK

At ManpowerGroup Solutions, our dedicated end user services and field engineering division has improved the productivity, flexibility and business results of countless organisations across the UK.

We’re now pleased to extend and further strengthen this offering, by transitioning the end user services and infrastructure management area of our business into a new brand, with strong heritage and extensive European reach – Proservia.

Introducing Proservia

In today’s world of work, long-term business growth relies on the ability to react quickly, innovate, and meet the changing requirements of your clients.

Proservia has been helping organisations to do just that for more than two decades – by designing effective IT infrastructure, completing transformation projects, managing day-to-day IT requirements, and much more.

Founded in France in 1994 and acquired by ManpowerGroup Solutions in 2012, every year Proservia handles over 12 million phone calls from end-users and manages more than two million field support tickets on behalf of clients in 12 countries across Europe.

A range of services

As part of the Proservia team, we’ll be focused on delivering a seamless experience for your users, every single time. Our suite of capabilities includes:

  1. Architecture and Transformation
    Designing robust, agile and resilient IT infrastructures that evolve and future-proof your IT systems in line with your goals, at no point impacting on your organisational productivity or user satisfaction.
  2. Outsourcing
    Managing your day-to-day IT system requirements, delivering effective support to your users, and fixing issues whenever they arise, whilst providing full transparency over our delivery, so you can capitalise on opportunities from day one.
  3. Field Engineering
    Servicing and repairing hardware and software, including field delivery, installation, maintenance and technical support, with seamless project management and scheduling capabilities

Whether you’re looking to outsource one element of your IT function or the entire department, we invite you to visit our ManpowerGroup Solutions website today to learn more about End User Services from Proservia.

Q1 2016 Tech Cities Job Watch

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A shortage of skilled IT professionals across the country has resulted in tough competition across five key technology skills in particular: Big Data, Cloud, IT Security, Mobile and Web Development.

Our latest Tech Cities Job Watch report reveals that:

  • Tech Cities outside of London continue to become more attractive job seekers, with rising hiring demand in Q1 2016 narrowing the gap against London’s dominance as the main Tech City
  • Organisations are under pressure to offer more competitive salaries and benefit packages, in a bid to secure to talent ahead of their competitors
  • Following recent high-profile cyber-attacks, and data leaks, and the new EU Data Protection Reform coming into place, many organisations are increasing investment in their data protection measures.

Q1 2016 Tech Cities Job Watch Infographic

A shortage of skilled IT professionals across the country has resulted in tough competition across the five key technology skills: Big Data, Cloud, IT Security, Mobile and Web Development. This infographic highlights the ups and downs of hiring demand as well as average permanent and contractor salaries across the five disciplines for London and other UK Tech Cities in Q1 of 2016.

Click here to download the pdf.

To explore all the data, download the Tech Cities Job Watch report.

Millennials: The can-do, will-do generation

In 2020, Millennials will make up over a third of the global workforce, so it’s no surprise that so many reports about them exist. What is surprising, however, is the amount of negative stereotypes that exist about them. They’ve been painted to be a generation of disloyal, work-shy job hoppers. These typecasts simply aren’t true.

In fact, Millennials expect to work harder and longer than any previous generation. When we interviewed 19,000 Millennials as part of our recent Millennial Careers: 2020 Vision report, half of them told us that they expect to work past the age of 65, over a quarter expected to work until at least 70, and 12% thought it was unlikely that they would ever be able to retire. A handful were more optimistic and thought they’d retire before 65, but that was very much the minority opinion.

Time out

While Millennials know that they will be working for far longer than their parents and grandparents, they expect to take more career breaks along the way. 84% of the people we spoke to said that they expect to take career breaks lasting more than four weeks during their career.

Interestingly, the reasons for these career breaks were somewhat varied. Female Millennials, for example, often told us that they planned to take time out to care for other people – for children, older people, or partners, or to volunteer. Far fewer of the males we spoke to planned to do the same. It seems that the expectations of Millennials are at odds with hopes for gender parity.

But both genders were in agreement when it came to taking time out of work to look after ‘me, myself and I’. Our research found that four out of five Millennials, regardless of gender, plan to take extended breaks to relax, travel, and see the world. At the other end of the scale, taking time off to support a partner in their job ranks as a low priority for both genders – dual-income households continue to be the way forward.

The time to act is now

What our research has shown us is that Millennials have a very different relationship with work than previous generations. As the preferences and expectations of candidates change, so too must the strategies of employers, if they are to attract, retain, develop and motivate this new generation of workers.

Now’s the time to review your approach to talent, and make sure it aligns with the expectations of Millennials. It’s those HR professionals who dig below the surface to understand and adjust to these changing attitudes who will hold the competitive advantage in today’s global marketplace.

Read more about our findings in the full report.

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey – Q3 2016

The key findings of the Q3 2016 survey include:

UK employers report cautiously optimistic hiring intentions for the July-September time frame. With 10% of employers expecting to increase staffing levels, 3% anticipating a decrease and 86% forecasting no change, the resulting Net Employment Outlook is +7%.

Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the outlook stands at +5%. Hiring prospects drop by one percentage point compared to last quarter and remain relatively stable when compared with Quarter 3 2015.

East of EnglandEast MidlandsLondonNorth EastNorth WestSouth EastSouth WestWest MidlandsYorkshire and the HumberNorthern IrelandScotlandWales
East of EnglandEast MidlandsLondonNorth EastNorth WestSouth EastSouth WestWest MidlandsYorkshire and the HumberNorthern IrelandScotlandWales

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey Infographic – Q3 2016

Every quarter, we survey a representative sample of over 2,000 UK employers, asking them how they anticipate employment changes in their location over the next three months. This infographic highlights the key takeaways from the Q3 2016 report, including a regional heat map of jobs outlook.


Click here to download the pdf.What do the percentages mean?

The % of employers anticipating an increase in headcount – the % of employers expecting to decrease in headcount = Outlook Percentage

Seasonally adjusted – Seasonal adjustments are applied to research data to remove employment fluctuations that normally occur at the same time each year, such as the end of a school term or a change in season.

For all the data, download the full Manpower Employment Outlook Survey report.

6 ways to attract, retain and develop Millennials

Here at ManpowerGroup, we wanted to better understand what motivates that infamous generation known as the Millennials – set to make up over a third of the world’s workforce by 2020. We surveyed 19,000 Millennials from across the globe, asking them what they look for in a job, what paths they want their careers to take, and what would encourage them to stay with an employer. The research revealed some striking differences between the working practices of Generation Y and those of the generations before them.

From the extensive insights gathered from the research, we identified 6 key ways employers can reimagine their people practices so as to attract and inspire the next generation.

Offer career security, not job security

For Millennials, job security doesn’t just mean a guaranteed job-for-life, it means developing the skills needed to match market need. 93% want continuous skills development to remain employable in the long-run. Demonstrate exactly how staying with your company can lead to career enhancement. Share examples of people who’ve progressed through training programmes, and enable mobility around the organisation for on-the-job learning.

Satisfy the Millennial appetite for new opportunities

Millennials aren’t as disloyal as you might imagine – they crave regular change and new challenges, but often with their current employer not the next. Create opportunities for Millennials to work on varying projects with different teams to enhance their experience and networks – without them having to go elsewhere.

Check in regularly

Rather than annual reviews, focus on near-term objectives for development and implement plans to achieve them. Use these regular career conversations to connect how their work today will enhance their career prospects and longer-term employability. Right Management’s recent whitepaper offers some vital advice on how to initiate and reap the benefits of these career conversations.

Appreciate your Millennials

Half of Millennials would consider leaving their current job due to lack of appreciation. That’s a statistic that can’t be ignored. Maintaining a high-touch approach and offering recognition and affirmation is crucial to engaging Millennials in their roles. Find new channels that encourage recognition and sharing from managers and peers. It’s low cost, and it works.

Be ready to ride the career waves

Millennials already know they will work longer and harder than previous generations, so they also foresee career breaks along the way. Anticipate these breaks and know that these go beyond the traditional reasons (births, honeymoons and caring for relatives). Recognise that lengthy careers mean time to re-tool and refuel, and make breaks an acceptable part of company culture. Be clear what flexibility you can offer and help people re-enter the workforce when they return.

Embrace the alternatives

Millennials tend to favour full-time work, but more than half are also open to alternatives like part-time, freelance or portfolio careers. Adopt some of the more attractive aspects of these models – greater flexibility in where, when and how people work, and a larger variety of projects – to better engage and retain Millennial workers.

To explore all the insights and discover more practical advice, download the full report.