Colborn’s Corner: Who wants a job?

Annie Hayes

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Colborn’s Corner: Who wants a job?

By Annie Hayes

The recent announcement that unemployment within the UK has risen to 5.4% – the highest for six years, provoked little comment in the press. Perhaps the fact that the UK still enjoys one of the lowest rates of unemployment of the most economically developed economies may also have something to do with the lack of interest in the announcement. Quentin Colborn reports on the impact of these figures.

Harold Wilson once commented that it doesn’t matter what is said about unemployment rates, if you are unemployed it’s 100%. When we look at the topic it is inevitable that we review the statistics rather than the impact on individuals – while this may appear to dehumanise the issue, the intention is to take the wider perspective.

I think it’s interesting to see how changes have occurred in unemployment rates and those for employment. It is something of an irony that recently we have seen unemployment rates rise at the same time as employment figures.

Are these figures inconsistent? I don’t think so, what it tells us is that the employment pool is growing. One of the drivers for this is the growing number of workers within the UK from the new accession states to the EU. Interestingly, in the last week I have picked up comments from businesses in Belfast and Ipswich about the number of Polish workers currently available. Perhaps the rise in unemployment is linked to this factor but only maybe! It’s also worth noting from the statistics that the number of vacancies at around 600,000 is very similar to three months ago.

What impact does all of this have on the jobs market? For the vast majority of jobs I suspect comparatively little. There appears to be little sense that wage rates are being driven down by a fear of unemployment, a traditional result of higher unemployment. For the past few years the main determinants of settlement levels have been company profitability and market pressures.

What impact do unemployment rates have on job security? While there are clear examples such as the downsizing of the motor industry in the West Midlands, I do not believe that a general fear of unemployment drives much in terms of behaviour.

Does fear of unemployment mean people are less willing to change jobs? I don’t think so. But if concerns such as these did impact our workers likelihood for changing jobs, would that be a bad thing? The answer has to be ‘yes’, a stagnant workforce ultimately has to be a bad thing for an organisation. Those that want to grow need a steady and controllable level of turnover to bring in new ideas and experiences.

Of course the reality is that good people normally can get a new job easily, regardless of the market, the danger we all have to be aware of is changes in the employment market that leave us with the less well skilled and motivated. They are the ones of course who find it most difficult to move out because they are unattractive to other employers!

Post your comments on this issue in the box below.. Are people less likely to change jobs out of a sense of fear? Is there a correct level of retention appropriate to your business? If so, what is it and why?

Quentin Colborn is an independent HR consultant based in Essex who advises management teams on operations and strategic HR issues. To contact him T: 01376 571360 or e-mail him at Quentin@qcpeople.co.uk

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