Happy September-almost-October everybody. This post is four days overdue. In case you hadn’t noticed, they’re supposed to be out on the 25th. Well, I have no reasonable explanation for why I didn’t make the deadline this month. I actually just lost track of the date, and the only way I was reminded of it was checking the use-by on sausages in the fridge.
Anyway, last month I promised to be more specific about the impact of Brexit on the job front, so here it is.
After consulting various sources provided below, I have some insights to share with you that will hopefully ease your anxiety about looking for work, or changing career path, or whatever situation you find yourself in. Below is a list of popular phrases that dominate the commentary on the post-Brexit job market, and my analysis of what it really means.
Note: Some of these studies only focused on the first month after Brexit, so we can’t take them as gospel because employers one month in are going to be very worried about an unstable economy and very cautious about hiring. Something I noticed while conducting my research is that the majority of studies on this are remarkably quiet about how things are now, a few months after. Let’s be logical here: the first month after such an important decision is going to have the most dramatic changes before things even out. The figures for this month, or even August, would be a lot more enlightening as it would show the reality a few months after the melodrama dies down.
Business confidence is low
What does this mean for you the job-seeker? It’s a really vague statement but lucky for you I’m here and I look further to see the specifics. Well, the articles that cited this immediately followed it with commentary about companies hiring. Basically, companies post-Brexit are less confident about offering full-time permanent positions. However, temporary positions have increased. So, if you’re looking for a permanent job you will have less to choose from. If you’re looking for something temporary, things look good. Let’s think about this for a second though: I’ve previously blogged about the shadiness of zero-hour contracts, and how the growth of them is a way for the government to twist employment figures. The government likes to lie to its citizens and pretend they’re doing a good job, so they like to give employment statistics that don’t differentiate between, let’s say, a permanent job and a part-time temporary one. Suddenly, however, post-Brexit, when the citizens gave a big middle finger to their government and voted Leave, the statistics now differentiate between the two. How very convenient.
Salaries are rising, but more slowly
The rate of salary growth is going up, yes, but oh no! It’s going up more slowly. Sorry, but, compared to the pre-vote frenzy that predicted some sort of Total Recall dystopia, this seems to be a very tame repercussion of Brexit. I thought that at the very least salaries would go down or stay stagnant for a couple of months, but no. Salaries are still rising. Yes, more slowly, but compare this fact with the fear-mongering of the media before the vote. To me, this looks like proof that Leave was the right decision.
Uncertainty
A lot of the impact on the job market has a lot to do with the uncertainty of the job market. This is a really bizarre form of circular logic: everyone who is an expert or someone powerful or someone in the media told us to be afraid of the consequences. Now that it is after the fact, people are afraid of the consequences. These people might own companies and might decide not to hire employees for a while or hire a couple of temps instead. Then the government statistics ‘experts’ say ‘Oh look, see, less employers are hiring permanent staff, see look what you did, stupid citizens.’ Then, these very same organisations that spread the fear analyse the fear and blame it on the vote.
Basically:
Sure, there have been some changes to the economy, but being a supporter of Leave, I’m a bit smug about it all really. The consequences are nowhere near as insane as the Remain campaigners kept saying. The decline in permanent job positions is not just because of Brexit; it has been happening for a long time and is more to do with lack of business integrity than anything else. I’ve said it before: why employ someone permanent who has more rights and requires more admin./regulations when you can hire two temps who don’t get paid holidays or any of the other lovely salary perks? This is a sad fact of life. Sure, economic stability impacts this fact, but any savvy employer is looking after their own needs before their employees even during the boom times. It’s not corrupt, it’s business. At the end of the day is it more important to have a good job or good principles? The UK voters have shown us it is the latter; defying all the odds in order to retain the integrity of the nation. No more prostituting ourselves to ghostly foreign debt-holders.
Now remember:
Analysis of evidence betrays bias, as I said in last month’s blog post. I’m biased like anyone else. The only entity who isn’t biased is someone omnipotent, like say, God. I encourage you to do your own research or at least consider the links I’ve provided in order to form your own conclusions. You might also want to go and read other blog posts I’ve written, or buy my Ebook ( you can find the link underneath any of my blog posts) if you think I might not be an idiot.
Once again, I have to say how proud I am of everyone who voted Leave.
Hold your ground. Stay strong. The world is proud of you.
References:
Financial Times: UK Job Market ‘in freefall’
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation
BBC: UK job market ‘weak around Brexit vote’
BBC: Brexit Britain: What has actually happened so far?
The Independent: UK job vacancy adverts fall
Reuters: UK labour market enters ‘freefall’
Market Watch: UK job market solid after Brexit vote
KennedyPearce consulting: The Job Market Following Brexit
Reed: Five ways leaving the EU could affect your job search
Copyright Gillian Rixey, Company Jobs Direct Ltd.
by Gillian Rixey
(Gillian is a PhD qualified freelance writer and scholar born in Ireland but currently residing in the United States.)
