Manufacturing jobs drop by 4%, despite salaries rising

According to the latest quarterly job market report from CV-Library, the UK’s independent job board, manufacturing jobs dropped by 4.3% in the final few months of 2019; the third quarter they’ve fallen year-on-year in 2019.

The report looks at job market data throughout Q4 2019 and compares this with findings from the previous year. It reveals that despite Q3 2019 experiencing a 2% increase in manufacturing jobs, Q4 has followed the trend of the first half of the year, where jobs fell by 6% in Q2 and 1% in Q1. 

The UK as a whole actually saw jobs rise by 4% in Q4 2019, while salaries dropped by 7.8%. Interestingly, the manufacturing industry witnessed an increase in pay, with wages jumping up by 4.8% year-on-year.

Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library comments: “The final few months of 2019 saw a great deal of political uncertainty; between the original Brexit deadline and the December general election. So, it’s unusual that manufacturing pay has risen when many businesses were forced to tighten their belts and prepare for the worst. 

“Indeed, recent reports suggest that the economy weakened towards the end of last year because of another lacklustre performance from manufacturing; and clearly this has had an impact on job numbers in the industry. Businesses are still nervous to expand their workforce in the current climate, especially now that we’re just days away from the next Brexit deadline.”

According to the findings, the increase in pay wasn’t enough to encourage professionals to look for new jobs. In fact, applications to manufacturing jobs fell by 3.6% during this period; despite the UK as a whole experiencing a 7.6% rise. This is the first time applications have dropped in the industry since Q1 2019.

Biggins continues: “It’s not unusual to see a drop in applications at this time of year, with many professionals holding off on their job hunt until the New Year. However it is disappointing after two promising quarters of growth. Sadly the industry is facing a massive skills shortage and businesses are under huge pressure; hopefully these figures will pick back up as we enter a busier time for job hunting.”