Insights
UK Labour Market is Improving at Faster Rate Since Financial Crisis
Glassdoor Team
Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | 20 Oct 2016
The UK labour market is in a strong position compared to the rest of Europe and is improving at a quicker rate since the financial crisis, according to a new index developed by Glassdoor Economic Research. The Glassdoor Labour Market Index (GLMI) reveals that labour market conditions (employment, jobs and wages, for example) are improving in the European Union as a whole, however there is considerable diversity among European countries.
The GLMI shows that the momentum in Europe is currently with Greece, Portugal and Spain. These are the three countries whose labour markets are improving the most when compared with performance since before the global financial crisis. However all three still have a very long way to go before they come close to Switzerland and Scandinavia. The UK, however, is in a very strong position in that its labour market is getting better and that improvement has actually been accelerating.
Employers and job seekers both need good information about economic conditions before deciding where to hire and invest, and where to live and work. The GLMI has been created to help employers and job seekers alike understand the larger employment picture across Europe.
Developed in cooperation with Llewellyn Consulting, Glassdoor’s new index ranks 18 countries across Europe plus the United States. The GLMI assigns a simple metric to each country, showcasing which countries have the strongest and weakest labour markets and how they have changed over time. It provides a snapshot of how much a labour market is accelerating or slowing down compared to past growth. The factors considered in the GLMI are unemployment rates, the number of job openings, wage levels, and more.
UK Labour Market Shows Solid Acceleration
To provide an insight into which labour markets are best to find a job or hire talent today, the index looks at the labour market growth for specific countries over the previous nine years compared to each of those countries’ historical average. The Index reveals that the UK is growing somewhat faster than in the past, yet not to the extent that some countries are. By contrast, labour market momentum in Switzerland and Norway is significantly below each country’s historical average. Similar to the UK, these markets were already quite strong and therefore growth is less apparent. A job seeker in the UK today can expect a strong economy with continued, solid growth. Though Greece, Spain and Portugal labour markets are improving, it will be some time before their economies catch up with strong markets in countries like Switzerland and Norway.
The following chart shows a country-by-country snapshot of how each labour market is improving or deteriorating relative to its past. An index number above zero means labour market conditions are improving faster than the country’s average improvement in the past. By contrast, a negative index number means that labour market conditions are not improving as well as we would expect based on the previous average. The higher the index number, the more conditions in the job market are exceeding past performance.
Current Conditions: UK Among Strongest Labour Markets
The previous charts looked at improvement or deterioration in labour market growth over time (dynamic view), but it is also useful to consider a current snapshot (static view) comparing factors such as unemployment and wages. There is still a lot of variation between job markets and there is a clear north/south divide. Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and the UK are in a strong position, whereas Greece, Spain and Italy have the weakest labour markets. If improvements in their economies continue at the same rate revealed by the GLMI, these latter countries could eventually catch up with the stronger markets. However, this assumes that all other things would remain equal, which is unlikely to be the case in the real world. For now, job seekers in southern Europe have a difficult time finding employment and securing good wages.
Visit Glassdoor Research (http://www.glassdoor.com/research) for the latest job market and economic employment reports.
Current Conditions: UK Among Strongest Labour Markets
The previous charts looked at improvement or deterioration in labour market growth over time (dynamic view), but it is also useful to consider a current snapshot (static view) comparing factors such as unemployment and wages. There is still a lot of variation between job markets and there is a clear north/south divide. Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and the UK are in a strong position, whereas Greece, Spain and Italy have the weakest labour markets. If improvements in their economies continue at the same rate revealed by the GLMI, these latter countries could eventually catch up with the stronger markets. However, this assumes that all other things would remain equal, which is unlikely to be the case in the real world. For now, job seekers in southern Europe have a difficult time finding employment and securing good wages.
Visit Glassdoor Research (http://www.glassdoor.com/research) for the latest job market and economic employment reports.Glassdoor Team
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