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Back to school - a time of change

by Tatiana Raikes September 06, 2012
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​September always makes me feel like I am young again, packing my pencil case, wearing my new shoes and going back to school. For companies it is a time of renewed enthusiasm and reviewing progress and targets.

It is no surprise therefore that some companies choose to look to their workload and hiring capacity in September. There has been bad news recently about companies such as Direct Line cutting UK jobs. Whenever a company cuts jobs, it seems to make the front pages but when a company pledges to make new hires, no matter how many, it is lucky to make the back pages. Looking at our Proud to be Hiring campaign, there are 40 companies signed up which are creating 900 jobs. The good news needs to be shouted about and publicised more.

With a new employment minister pledging to tackle youth unemployment (something Grayling tried to do with the £1bn Youth Contract), it is up to companies now to change the news for the better and prompt a new wave of jobs growth. Yes, the public sector is shrinking but the private sector is growing at the same time, especially small and mid sized companies.

The often forgotten mid-sized companies in the UK account for about 1.4 per cent of the approximately 4.5m businesses trading at present, generate 32 per cent of private sector gross domestic product and are responsible for more than one in three British jobs. Looking at the stats, the UK’s largest companies cut 692,000 jobs from the beginning of the credit crunch whilst during the same period, the UK’s mid-market companies added 26,000 jobs.

If you are looking for a job, do not lose hope and keep an eye out for companies which are hiring, and proud to be doing so.

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