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Post 2017, predicting what would happen in the UK job market was an interesting yet scary prospect. Towards the end of 2016, the majority shocked the world and voted for England to break away from the EU, sparking job security Brexit worries in almost all sectors.
Many sectors are reporting a boost in trade since the announcement of Brexit, yet some are still left pondering their fate. 2017 could be a great year to review the market and make changes if necessary.
With that in mind, here we list why we tip construction, manufacturing, engineering and IT & technology as the top four sectors to experience high growth in 2017:
Construction
Integra People, along with many other recruitment business, have witnessed solid growth in the construction sector in 2016, and expect this to continue throughout 2017.
There are 12,045 job roles within the construction industry, and in March 2017 the average salary for construction jobs rose by £965 (11 percent).
All signs are encouraging in this sector, with the government committing £5bn to boost the housing building, which should enable a huge growth in jobs. The Telegraph reported that the construction sector needs to attract 500,000 new recruits in the next five years to plug the skill gap.
Laing O’Rourke devised a 10 point plan late 2016 to fill the construction sectors skills gap by introducing GCSEs and A-levels in Design, Engineer, and Construct (DEC) disciplines.
Mark Farmer, author of the Farmer Review, said: “I believe this 10 point plan is an important addition to the debate on how we appropriately modernise and safeguard our industries future.”
T-Levels have also been introduced by Chancellor Philip Hammond to overhaul how technical education is taught and administered in the hope that they will be viewed with the same esteem as A-levels.
Extra funding of £500m a year is being spent to ensure that vocational education becomes an attractive option for young people and employers alike.
Since Brexit, the government has committed to a significant number of infrastructure projects, which will further increase the demand for skills, ensuring this will be a healthy sector throughout 2017.
Manufacturing
The industry looks set to benefit well into 2017. CV Library released some data from analysis if the average number of jobs in the UK’s key sectors in 2016, and manufacturing was up 26 percent, with applications rising by 30 percent and figures expected to pick up substantially.
Over two thirds of manufacturing firms expect to grow in 2017 despite the impact of Brexit, according to the findings of the annual Business Census 2017 report.
Many exporters have been enjoying the weaker value of the pound, though exporting success largely depends on what happens to the value of the pound, yet currently it makes goods more affordable for businesses importing from Britain.
According to statistics from The Manufacturer, manufacturing is strong with the UK currently the world’s ninth largest industrial nation. Manufacturing makes up 10 percent of GVA and 45 percent of UK exports, directly employing 2.7 million people.
The average salary for people working in manufacturing is up by £343 in 2017, at £30,800, and there are 4,872 job roles within the manufacturing industry.
Job roles in manufacturing range from machine operators, manufacturing supervisors, technicians and production operatives.
Engineering
Engineering is consistently topping the list for job growth opportunity, and 2017 is no different. 78,467 engineering roles are advertised online in any given month, and the average salary is £36,177, up by £960 in 2017.
The skills shortage is well documented, and there is an ageing baby bloomer workforce. According to recent figures from the Royal Academy of Engineering, there is a shortfall of 1.8 million engineers across the UK.
Research conducted by Engineering UK suggests that 182,000 additional workers are needed every year until 2022 to fill the number of engineering roles that will become available.
One sector in engineering that is set to get back in the driving seat in 2017 is the automotive industry. It is going digital, with the AI field has a vision set on driverless cars, companies intentions for more electric cars and batteries, and intentions to scale investments and create thousands of jobs.
In autumn 2017, one of the UK’s most famous engineers, Sir James Dyson, launched a new engineering university following a dearth of skilled engineers. He is investing £15m over the next five years into the Dyson Institute of Technology, aspiring to double his engineering workforce by 6000 by 2020.
There are 14,436 job roles within the UK engineering industry, and Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering are two of the most in-demand job roles in the UK.
IT & Technology
IT & Technology is expected to be a hot recruitment sector for many years to come, as we see technology progressing and as all things evolve into the digital age. Computers shape the way we live, the way we work, and increasingly influence the economic structures that make up the global economy.
In the 1960s and 70s, people feared that computers were going to make thousands of jobs redundant, yet computers have been the reason for a continuous supply of employment.
Things and trends come and go, phones, companies, and the workforce must keep up with this as well as coming up with innovative ideas.
There has been a surge in demand for cyber security as virtual and augmented reality have become a big part of our digital lives already. Some do not fully realise how much of what they do is so technologically advanced.
Considering the success of AI phenomenon PokemonGO, and much loved SnapChat filters, technology looks set only be heightened further during 2017, which should revolutionise gaming, education and entertainment further, and bring a large number of job opportunities with it.
The average salary for people working in IT is up by £3,933 in 2017, at £49,289. 57,000 IT developer jobs are advertised online each month, and there are 20,533 job roles in the UK IT & communications industry.
There are many opportunities for talented IT professionals across a range of exciting and innovative disciplines. An IT manager is one of the most in demand job roles in the UK, and other key roles include mobile technology, app development, IT in healthcare, working in the cloud network infrastructure and in IT security.
Other sectors in numbers:
There has been a renewed confidence in many parts of the energy industry, and the average salary is up by a huge £5,160 in 2017 at £40,299.
Marketing manager is a sought after role, and has been listed as one of the most in demand jobs in the UK. Salaries in marketing have also increased by £570 in 2017, with the average salary for someone working in marketing at £38,492.
The teaching profession, secondary in particular, is experiencing talent shortages, and 40,693 teaching posts are advertised online each month. Teachers can expect an average salary of £29,571.
In the health industry, care assistants saw their pay rise by 18.7 percent last year from a low base of £7,053 to £8,362. A nurse’s average salary is £31,876, and a huge 58,788 nursing jobs are advertised online each month.
The occupations that are currently experiencing talent shortages are: physicists, geologists, software professionals, secondary education teaching professionals, qualified actuaries working in life assurance, general insurance, and health and care sectors.
We are already in the swing of 2017, and we see healthy times ahead for the UK Recruitment Market. Hopefully this sector information will help those seeking a new role or starting out as a recruitment specialist to make the right decisions based on which sectors are looking promising for 2017.
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