ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey – Q3 2024
- Latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey shows high demand for younger workers going into Q3, with regional demand ahead of London
- Ninety-six percent (96%) of employers surveyed also report challenges engaging workers with less than ten years in work, including Gen Z and younger Millennials
- With around three million economically inactive young people in the UK, new approaches are needed to get under-25s into work.
The latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey reveals a nuanced UK hiring landscape for Q3, with positive-yet-cautious hiring intent evident amongst the Survey’s 2,100 respondents. Despite a three-percentage point decrease, quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the UK’s Net Employment Outlook remains at a healthy +20%. This places the UK +2% above the Q3 EMEA regional Outlook of 18%, but behind the global Outlook of +22%.
With UK youth unemployment rates more than two times the national average (and rising), it’s encouraging to see that close to half of UK managers surveyed (45%) indicate they intend to hire workers aged 25 and under during the July – September quarter, with ‘under-25’ hiring intent in Northern Ireland (53%), Scotland (50%), Wales (49%), East Midlands (49%), Yorkshire & Humberside (48%) and London (47%) all particularly strong.
Ninety-six percent (96%) of UK employers surveyed, however, also report challenges engaging employees with less than ten years in work. Survey respondents report difficulty meeting work-life balance expectations and maintaining employee motivation, alongside a perception that Gen Z and younger Millennials don’t have the right skills. To address this, managers indicate their top three engagement strategies for Q3 include: (1) Offering work hours flexibility (71%); (2) Placing emphasis on overall wellbeing (70%); and (3) Improving technology tools (69%).
