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UK bosses are hiring despite fears of slowdown in growth

Your odds of getting hired this year could be pretty good. Photo: REX/Shutterstock
Your odds of getting hired this year could be pretty good. Photo: REX/Shutterstock

Most UK business leaders plan to hire more staff despite a sharp rise in pessimism about the global economy, new figures show.

The auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has published its annual survey of 1,278 chief executives across 91 countries.

The data shows 61% of UK business leaders intend to increase headcount this year – a 7% rise on last year, and significantly higher than the figure for CEOs worldwide (53%).

This intention to step up recruitment is most likely driven by skill shortages, according to PwC, as an overwhelming 79% of UK CEOs said the availability of skills is now their top business concern.

READ MORE: No-deal Brexit biggest risk to Britain’s economy

Cyber-security is an equally big concern, with 79% of British business leaders also citing it as a threat to business in 2019. Trade conflicts, policy uncertainty and protectionism replaced terrorism, climate change and increasing tax burden in the top 10 list of threats for chief executives globally.

CEOs appear optimistic about business growth over the next 12 months.

82% of those in the UK said they are confident in their revenue prospects up until 2022, in line with global responses. However, this is a fall of 6% on last year’s figures.

PwC’s data shows a similar dip in confidence over revenue prospects for the next three years, with 90% of CEOs feeling optimistic in 2019, compared with 96% in 2018.

Despite this confidence, UK business leaders feel less positive about global economic growth in the upcoming year. The number who said they expect a decline almost tripled from 12% in 2018 to 35% in 2019. The jump in pessimism is even worse for CEOs globally, rising from just 5% last year to 30% this year.

READ MORE: France could overtake UK as world’s sixth biggest economy

Global business leaders are slightly more optimistic about the global economy than UK CEOs on the whole though.

Just a third (33%) of business chiefs in the UK predicted global growth, compared with 42% of their counterparts worldwide. Another third (33%) of those in the UK said they expect the economy to remain the same, compared with 28% globally.

Kevin Ellis, chairman and senior partner of PwC, said: “Uncertainty is at the forefront of UK CEOs minds, but they know regardless of market conditions, there are always opportunities for growth.

“By investing that talent, technology and developing new business models, companies can adapt and innovate to thrive. CEO confidence on hiring is a very positive sign.”

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