Supply chain leads job growth in North West as vacancies rise nearly 50%

Chris Poole, Director of Robert Walters North

Demand for supply chain professionals among North West employers is booming, reflected in a 47% increase in advertised jobs in this field.

The numbers are drawn from the Robert Walters UK Jobs Index, which tracks the number of available jobs in the economy since the third quarter of 2013.

Jobs in marketing are also up by 19% and in sales by 15% across the North West, reflecting fresh enthusiasm for bringing new products and services to market.

Advertised vacancies are also on the rise in areas such as office support (18%), risk (up 12%) and human resources (6%).

Chris Poole, Director of Robert Walters North: “Attention has centred on London as the driving force behind the economic recovery. Yet while job levels continue to expand in the capital, a greater, unseen narrative has been unfolding in the regions.

“The intensity of job vacancy growth in North West reflects the strength of confidence in the value of moving to or establishing business operations in this region. Given the strength of the local talent base and high quality transport links, we expect to see this trend continue in 2015.

“In light of renewed forecasts of further economic growth, we expect businesses to come under pressure to raise salaries if they are to compete for talented professionals. However, with many individuals prepared to widen their job search to other parts of the country or even internationally, our advice to employers is to respond in kind, tapping into new and existing networks to source candidates from further afield.”