As everyone in the country knows, there are currently more than two and a half million people in the UK that are currently unemployed. This is a major problem for a nation struggling to combat a double dip recession, and also for tax payers who are contributing towards helping those who simply cannot find jobs in a commercial property workplace simply survive from day to day.
Some claim that a lack of motivation in young people to visit commercial properties and find work is to blame for the mounting crisis, but what if this is not the case? Could it, in fact, be employers that are unwilling to take on new staff with the future of so many commercial property businesses uncertain in the economic climate we live in today?
A report combined jointly by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG shows that the number of people finding permanent jobs in commercial property workplaces has dropped to the lowest rate in five months.
The study looked at data compiled by 400 of the UK’s leading recruitment and employment consultans, and found that while employers are continuing to take on staff, in general commercial property businesses were proceeding with caution until they could be more confident about the future of their companies.
Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said; “This month’s data shows that employers are becoming more cautious about hiring and while there is still growth in permanent places, the figures have been getting weaker over the past two months.
“Clearly the economic backdrop and the eurozone crisis are making some employers think twice before taking on new staff.”
While the rise in permanent placements may be slightly stagnant, the fact that it continues to grow at all must surely be a sign that the country is beginning to get back on its feet. Closures of commercial property retail chains and leisure commercial properties continue to have an adverse effect upon employment figures in the UK, yet the recent Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) has meant that service industries such as banks and legal commercial properties are currently in the process of hiring thousands of temporary workers in order to cope with the massive fallout from the scandal. 
A rival study by Manpower found that, in fact, a balance of +1% of employers are currently in the process of, or seriously considering, taking on greater numbers of staff, meaning that potentially thousands of jobs could be created in a variety of industries in this year alone.
Manpower surveyed 2,100 commercial property employers and claimed their findings showed employment figures to be “keeping its head above water.” Additionally, it praised commercial property employers for showing “remarkable resilience” in the face of tough economic conditions.
Mark Cahill, Manpower UK’s Managing Director, says; “When you’re going head-to-head with a return to recession at home and a burgeoning eurozone crisis, by rights the jobs market should be in freefall, but that’s not what we’re seeing.
“Firms are still looking to hire albeit at a weaker pace than before.”
It seems, then, that the message is a positive one for UK citizens struggling to find employment in commercial property workplaces. And with small companies encouraged to expand with the help of Government bursaries and increasingly accessible bank loans, we must hope that the unemployment crisis is nearing its end.
Do you think that these studies are truly a positive sign that commercial property employment is becoming more accessible to workers? Or do you believe that they simply prove how difficult life in the UK has become for people genuinely willing to find work?
