British economy is quite resilient
Colin Walker, director, Workshop Recruitment, Drayton, Portsmouth on the current business scene.
With all of the doom and gloom in the papers and on the television, the word 'recession' is one that seems predominant.
So I looked it up in the dictionary and this is what it says: 'As reflected in the gross national product, a decline in economic activity in at least two consecutive quarters.'
It doesn't actually sound so scary when you read it like that. Prices go up – prices go down.
However, another definition reads: 'During a recession, prices fall, consumers don't buy as many products (especially high-priced items), and businesses begin to fail.'
I think I prefer the first version.
In fact, it's amazing how resilient the economy actually is.
Locally, manufacturing has taken a significant downturn and in recent years we've seen big companies closing or moving production abroad.
Procter & Gamble, Julius Mellor and Autoliv have each released hundreds of staff but they've all found work somewhere, so there must be growth in other sectors.
In every market there will always be times of growth and times when prices fall. Anyone that has owned the same house for the last 20 years will have seen some incredible changes to the price. But if you don't sell, the overall trend is upwards and eventually it all gets back on track.
The same thing happens in a recession. I have worked in recruitment for 20 years, and have worked for the same company for over 19 of them. We were here during the last recession, and we made it through. We'll make it through this one.
When things get difficult and companies need to tighten their belts, they tend to shed anything that can offer them an immediate saving. Very often in manufacturing, the temps are the first to go. If you are an employer and your order book starts to increase, do you take on permanent staff immediately, or do you take on temporary, more flexible workers first so you can see how things settle before committing?
Temps are the obvious answer.
After all, a temporary workforce is an essential part of the economy.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
