Despite this, the findings, which analysed job market data from August 2019 with the same period in 2018, also reveal that applications to newly advertised manufacturing jobs climbed by a comfortable 2.4%, causing the application to job ratio to rise by 9.9%.
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, commented: “The manufacturing industry is currently navigating its way through a turbulent period. The ongoing skills crisis as a result of Brexit means that more people are needed in the industry than ever before; though we can’t take the rise in applications as reassurance that this is happening.
“Particularly as, at the same time, the prospect of a no-deal Brexit is causing manufacturing businesses to shrink. Companies are unwilling to invest and as such, activity is being held back. Not to mention that manufacturing businesses who export within the EU are expecting to be heavily impacted by a no-deal exit in October. Therefore, they’re reacting by holding out on their hiring efforts right now.”
Alongside the above, the data also shows that salaries in the industry remained relatively unchanged, increasing by a marginal 0.4% year-on-year.
Biggins continues: “August is a notoriously tricky time to hire, so it’s clear that employers are feeling the pressure to attract the best talent to their roles. Times are tough for manufacturing businesses right now and we cannot view this minimal increase in salaries as an improvement to the UK job market. If anything, it seems to be an attempt to plug the skills gap left by Brexit.”
