If you are a worker in the UK and are looking to change job, now may be the right time to polish your CV and start scrolling through on UK job sites like Jobrapido. Recent findings have revealed that the UK’s economic output is stalling due to fewer people coming to the UK to find work, likely caused by Brexit.
The UK’s service sector has experienced increasing struggles to get enough workers due to free-falling numbers of applicants with the relevant skills or experience in the build-up to the Brexit departure date. This is just one of the lost battles from the Brexit saga, which could severely impact the UK more than the EU.
Data from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (Cips) and HIS Markit suggest the companies in the service industry, accounting for just short of 80% of the UK’s economic output, are not able to grow and develop due to a significant labour shortage and difficulty finding the right staff.
These findings come sharply after other figures highlight that record numbers of EU residents have turned their back on the UK and are choosing not to go for work. Thus, reducing the potential workers available to companies in the service sector.
A labour shortage does have the potential to increase average wages in these industries because workers then hold more bargaining power due to less competition. Yet, it also causes concerns among economist circles who worry about the repercussions of fewer workers and potential effects on economic growth.
The survey, as mentioned earlier, has reported that employment growth has been constrained – and follows other reports that UK unemployment is also at record lows since the mid-1970s. Therefore, the two statistics together suggest fewer people are available to work in the UK. This is also why those wanting to switch careers may have more success today – and hold more bargaining power.
WorldFirst’s chief economist, Jeremy Thomson-Cook, suggested that this result is one in a long line of blows for the UK economy and points to Brexit uncertainty as the problem.
However, there may be some pending changes to counter these results. As it is reported, the Home Office plans to U-turn on a Teressa May government’s decision to give international students who have graduated in the UK just four months to find work or be forced to leave.
The new change will give any international graduate from 2020 up to two years to find a position with a UK company and remain in the UK, ultimately paving a way to full-time residency and UK citizenship.
The move has been criticised by some as there are no criteria for the type of employment the graduates must secure. They do not have to hold a relevant post in line with their training and can end up with any job to stay.
Some groups such as Immigration Watch UK believe it will lead to many graduates taking service job roles. Although this is not the aim of a Boris Johnson government aiming to increase the skills and talent of foreign workers in the UK, it may provide some support to the service industry amidst the Brexit uncertainty.
