Not so post Brexit Blues

 

Immediately after the referendum in June, the country was in a state of shock. The stock market and value of the pound plummeted. It seemed the economy was heading down the drain. A few months on from the result and things have steadied a bit.  Uncertainty has replaced the initial panic but what does this mean for the jobs market? Are employers in London still willing to hire or will they decide to wait it out until the storm has passed?

 

 

As the news of the vote to leave became clear, the press started their scare mongering. Initial speculation after Britain voted to leave the EU was that unemployment would soar and few employers would be seeking new staff. However, over the last few months, businesses across all sectors seem to have ignored this speculation and maintained their level of hiring new staff. In fact, employment in the UK has never been as high. 600,000 more people are in employment than the same time last year.

 

 

Foreign investment in the UK has given a boost in confidence. There has been an increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions post Brexit. With Softbank’s takeover of ARM Holdings being the most significant. Foreign businesses appear to be taking advantage of the weakened pound to buy up UK companies. it's unclear whether this foreign investment will lead to new jobs being created but any investment coming in to the country can only be seen as a positive.

 

Before the referendum it was expected that the UK’s economy would stall. Hiring would all but stop and investments into the country would cease. So far it has yet to happen, but there may be trouble ahead.

 

The decision to leave the EU will undoubtedly have an effect on the UK’s economy but at the moment it’s just too early to speculate how it will be affected. As it’s still unclear when the government will trigger article 50 – the formal process of leaving the EU – employers are increasingly optimistic that the negativity can be overcome by carrying on as normal.

So what does the future hold for the capital’s job market in the coming months and years? When Article 50 is finally triggered there is bound to be a period of uncertainty for the UK economy, this will lead to a slowdown in new vacancies and possibly some job cuts. There'll be uncertainty until the EU’s terms for our exit are finalised. When this happens the markets should stabilise and return to normal.

London's jobs market continues to thrive at the moment but it may not last long. Whatever the eventual outcome, London is still one of the greatest cities in the world to work and big business will always be attracted to having a base of operations in the capital.