Bouncing back!

Hurrah!

Let’s break out the champagne, the canapés and set off the fireworks.

Why? Haven’t you heard the news?

The UK is officially out of recession. Yesterday’s ground breaking news that the economy grew by 0.1% was heralded by a Government fanfare as it quietly forgot that its original forecast for growth was 0.5%. So really rather disappointing in truth and quite possibly a sign that its continued forward years forecast will be equally difficult to achieve.

But let’s face facts; we’re all a lot happier now aren’t we? The reality of the situation is that we’re all going to have to continue to work every bit as hard as we have done for the last twelve months in order to try and sustain our own businesses, before any forecast or actual growth has an impact upon what you and I do on a daily basis or upon our lifestyle.

There is no doubting that it will still take us years to claw back the damage that the last two years of recession has inflicted upon the UK economy, but whilst the impact has been across a broad spread of sectors, signs of a pick up in the logistics and distribution sector are a very gentle indicator that just maybe the economy is starting to turn.

With a second thought we can, without appearing too gloomy, keep the champagne corked for another quarter and choose a good bottle of sparkling wine instead!

The bounce might only just be starting but it might be here at last.

Already fed up with the Election!

And it's not even taken place yet!

Last week was a challenge in trying to talk with clients as the UK felt like the Mary Celeste. So many companies reported that employees had stayed at home during the snow that hit most parts of the country, that many appeared to being managed by the caretaker and the tea lady.

At last, as the snow has turned into rivers, employees have been forced to return to their offices and switch back into work mode.

And the topic of conversation that keeps cropping up? The election. More specifically the fact that whilst there appears little doubt as to which party will win it, no-one seems to have much of a clue what their economic policies are and how they will affect all of our companies.

The result? Inertia. We have been told that a number of assignments that were due to have been signed off in December and January are now “on hold” whilst CEO’s rethink the first quarters business strategy as they try to second guess what changes the election result might have.

Meanwhile back in the engine room, line managers are tearing their hair out as they continue to work with the thinnest of resources.

Just as a levee will break with spring flood waters; so this ‘sit on the fence and wait to see’ will break once businesses have more confidence in the economy. It feels as though we’re in the last furlong, but stumbling rather than sprinting towards the finishing line.

January’s snow news!

As we finish the first week of the New Year buried in snow, the big question on every businesses lips is – just what does 2010 hold for us all?

Now, I’m no Mystic Meg but on the basis that surely it cannot get any worse (can it?) then the early signs must portray a more positive outlook. Talking with other recruiters we believe that we have all seen the end of corporate slash and burn as businesses trim staffing levels as heavily as possible to leave themselves lean and mean and in survival mode.

The early consensus amongst many of us is that we saw some initial indicators of economic life in early November as clients started asking us to meet with them and discuss not just single position assignments, but on a number of occasion’s assignments for multiple roles.

However, before we all start jumping up and down with glee and popping the champagne corks, I’d like to add a quiet note of caution. The tenders are still all in client discussion and have yet to be signed off. We haven’t lost them, but we haven’t yet won them. Clients are naturally cautious beings and are waiting to see which way the economic wind blows. The assignments will go live; we simply don’t know when!