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* Coronavirus expected to hit hospitality and retail hardest
* Four in five UK recruiters expect short-term hit to hiring
* One in three recruiters already see a fall in demand - REC
* Staff demand seen solid in healthcare and logistics
sectors
* Job site Indeed reports 35% jump in adverts for delivery
drivers
By David Milliken
LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - British recruiters expect
widespread job losses for temporary staff in the hospitality,
travel and retail sectors and reduced hiring for permanent jobs
across the economy as the coronavirus hits the country.
"At the start of the year ... there was massive optimism.
Now the crisis has come and kiboshed that," Tom Hadley, policy
director at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, told
Reuters.
He held an online meeting with more than 200 of the trade
association's members on Friday. Some 80% of them expected the
crisis to hurt hiring in the short term, with 35% predicting a
major impact.
More than a third said demand for staff was falling, for
both permanent and temporary positions - though in most cases
the drop was small so far.
For certain sectors the prospects are darker.
"Some of our members, in sectors like hospitality, office
admin are really struggling," Hadley said. "Demand is not going
to be there, especially for hospitality. Events are being
cancelled. People are not going out."
Some retailers were struggling too, he added, highlighting
the Bicester Village designer fashion outlet north of London,
which had previously been very popular with Chinese tourists.
The Bank of England cited anecdotal evidence of a slowdown
in retail as one reason for its emergency interest rate cut on
Wednesday. The government has promised help for businesses hurt
by sick pay bills.
Until now, Britain's job market has been robust with a
record proportion of people in work in the final quarter of
2019.
But the economy as a whole has remained in a fragile state,
with zero economic growth in the three months to January.
DELIVERY DRIVERS IN DEMAND
Britain has not banned large public events or closed bars
and restaurants to slow the spread of the coronavirus, unlike
elsewhere in Europe.
But British Airways warned staff on Friday they faced at
least temporary job losses due to the global slump in air
travel. England's soccer Premier League has suspended matches
until April.
Some workers, however, are in increased demand.
Adverts for delivery drivers on job site Indeed were 35%
higher over the past week than in late January, according to
Pawel Adrjan, the site's head of research for Europe.
This was "probably in the expectation that home deliveries
of food and necessities will rise," he said.
Adverts for roles in the travel and hotel sector were down
by 8%, and food and beverage industry job adverts also declined.
Overall job adverts were little changed compared with a year
ago but the mix of jobs on offer was shifting, he said.
"Despite the disruption to people's lives, many businesses
are still looking for new workers," he said.
The REC's Hadley predicted continued appetite for temporary
staff, other than in hospitality and retail, due to a shortage
of health and social care workers and a need to cover staff
absence due to sickness.
But he saw a hiatus in permanent recruitment on the way.
"The freeze might be more on the perm side, putting things
on hold. You're not sure what is going to happen."
(Reporting by David Milliken
Editing by William Schomberg)
