According to the latest annual Labour Turnover survey from Make UK (the manufacturers’ organisation), labour turnover in manufacturing has increased for the second year in succession as employees, take advantage of a buoyant jobs market and skills shortages to move jobs.

“The data shows that turnover — the number of people leaving companies through resignation, redundancy, retirement or dismissal — rose to 14.4% in 2018, up from 13.2% in 2017.

This reflects the buoyant jobs market with high levels of employment and skills shortages, which means that there are greater numbers of opportunities for highly skilled employees to choose from.”

The smallest ‘rate of churn’ was seen by the rubber, plastics and chemicals sector (12.9%), while the highest (14.6%) was seen by the metals and other manufacturing sectors.

The region with the highest turnover was the South East (including London) at 17.6%, reflecting the especially buoyant job market and overall growth of manufacturing in the region.

Seamus Nevin, Make UK’s chief economist, said: “The number of people in work has risen to a record level yet again. However, while these job numbers are broadly positive, we cannot get carried away.

"The labour market is a lagging indicator of economic performance. Recruiting people takes time, so today’s numbers
are a reflection of past rather than current performance.

For jobs growth to continue, productivity needs to improve, and the only sustainable way to ensure that it does is for Government to give businesses the certainty they need to invest.”

The report (free to members) is available for purchase via the Web site (www.makeuk.org/Insights/Reports/2019/03/19/Labour-Turnover-Report-2019).