Most employers expect to boost job numbers in the new year as the post-referendum panic fades.
ManpowerGroup, the recruitment agency, said its quarterly survey of employers found they have shrugged off concerns about the impact of Brexit to report an improved outlook for the first three months of 2017.
The survey, which is based on responses from 2,104 UK employers, reported a rise of two points in its employment index to +7%, the highest level of optimism in two years.
Mark Cahill, the managing director of ManpowerGroup UK, said: “Employers are still unsure about what exactly Brexit will mean, but are not letting that uncertainty deter them from hiring.”
In a warning to ministers keen to clamp down on immigration, he said: “Some employers may be looking to bring in talent before any curbs to freedom of movement across the European Union come into effect, as more than half of all the jobs created by UK employers this year went to EU workers.”
He said transport jobs were hit by a ruling against the ride-hailing app company Uber that appeared to put dampener on the demand for private hire drivers. But construction workers were expecting a bumper pay day as the government prepared to increase spending on infrastructure projects and boost housebuilding, with scaffolders commanding salaries of £50,000 a year or more in the east of the UK.
