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Print unlikely to gain from rise in private sector employment

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Employment and pay within the private sector is set to rise this quarter, despite an expected rise in total UK unemployment, according to a new report.

However, printers  are far from convinced by the cautious optimism surrounding the sector.

The Labour Market Outlook study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG, claimed that redundancies are expected to double this quarter compared to the last three months in 2009, with the public sector bearing the brunt of the expected cuts.

Meanwhile, the number of staff employed in the private sector was predicted to increase for the first time since the start of the recession.

Martin Lett Jr, director at The Marstan Press, claimed that the private sector was likely to benefit from the government reducing public sector spending as this would increase outsourced work to the private sector.

However, he added: "Printers have to cut their costs accordingly and staff costs are normally a major expense for printers. Hence, I can see a reduction in employment within our industry as a whole."

Sam Neal, managing director of Geoff Neal Litho, said he believed that there would not be any major growth in any market in the coming months.

"Many printers out there are still undercutting costs to buy turnover rather than competing on quality, turnaround time and customer service. This only hurts the industry further," he said.

The CIPD survey also revealed that 10% of private sector firms, one in five of which were manufacturing companies, planned to outsource jobs overseas in 2010.

"The UK government needs to stop the number of companies outsourcing service... this is an obvious way of creating jobs," said Neal.

However, George Thompson, joint managing director of Harrison Scott Associates, said there had been a "levelling out" of the jobs market rather than a boom. He said 2010 would reap the rewards of "pent-up demand" prior to Christmas.

CIPD survey results:

  • UK unemployment currently stands at 2.46m
  • UK firms plan to cut 6.2% of their workforce in the first three months of 2010 (compared with 3.8% in previous quarter)
  • 62% of public sector bosses plan to reduce headcount
  • Private sector pay rise of 2% expected, compared with 1% in public sector
Business