Jobs in safety are scarce – but at least they’re well-paid

The number of new jobs in safety and security has hit its lowest level since December 2009 but salaries in the sector rose to place it second highest out of 34 sectors studied.

The Reed Job Index tracks the number of new job opportunities and salaries on offer each month on what is said to be the UK’s largest commercial jobs board – reed.co.uk – and measures them against a baseline of 100 set in December last year. According to the Index for July, ‘safety and security’ gave a reading of 69 for new job opportunities. This placed the sector joint third lowest out of 34, behind the public sector on 63, the energy sector on 68, and equal to social care on 69. The average reading across all sectors for new job openings was 102.

This average reading represented a drop of one point on the previous month, but some sectors bucked the trend, with demand for new workers in manufacturing and general insurance rising to the highest level – 116 and 138, respectively – since the baseline was set.

But the news is not all bad in safety and security – salaries in the sector have risen in the last two months after falling below the baseline of 100 in the earlier part of this year. The reading for July was 107, placing the sector second behind training, on 115. The national average across all sectors was 95, which, according to Reed, equates to a national average salary of £31,909.

Commenting on the figures, Martin Warnes, managing director of reed.co.uk, said: “Employers are still a little nervous about just how sustainable economic recovery will prove to be. At the same time, however, some key job sectors bucked the trend, with demand for new staff in these areas rising to their highest level since the Index began.

“The increase in manufacturing-sector demand is particularly significant. Clearly, while demand in the public sector fall back, other areas are preparing for future growth, even though it is difficult to predict how robust this will be over the rest of the summer.”

The trends do tally with those observed by specialist recruiters in the safety market. Chris Rowland, divisional manager at the HSE Recruitment Network, said most of the job creation, such as it is, is taking place at a higher level, where there are fewer positions but bigger salaries on offer.

He told SHP: “We have seen a dip in the last six to eight weeks in terms of the number of jobs on offer, compared with the back end of last year and early part of this year. We are working on more senior positions, as we find that those are less affected by the general situation. Restructuring by many of our larger clients has seen more roles created at senior levels.”

Shirley Parsons, of Shirley Parsons Associates, agreed that the number of safety jobs has gone down somewhat in the last couple of weeks but she felt it had been fairly robust until July. As for salaries, Shirley commented: “People are prepared to pay more for the higher level, to entice the people they really want.”