Employment in Coventry & Warwickshire expected to increase
"Local investment in training continues to increase, particularly for manufacturing businesses.”
The prospect of new jobs being created in Coventry and Warwickshire in 2025 remains positive – despite a slight dip in confidence among businesses across the region.
That was one of the findings of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s final Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) of 2024.
The survey, which is delivered in partnership with Prime Accountants Group and measures sentiment among businesses, is analysed by the Business Intelligence Service at Warwickshire County Council. From the responses of businesses across the services and manufacturing sectors, it gives scores out of 100 where anything above 50 indicates growth and anything below 50 is negative.
It looks at a range of aspects of doing business in the region, including the outlook for employment, investment, confidence, and current and future orderbooks for both domestic and overseas sales.
The score for domestic sales dropped slightly in the service sector to a score of 57.3 from 63.3 – but the fact the score is still above 50 indicates growth. In manufacturing, the score jumped from 52.3 up to 60.3. From an export point of view, the number dropped for both service and manufacturing businesses. Both now sit beneath 50. Investment and cashflow fell in the service sector to 51.2 while it remained flat in manufacturing at 54.7.
Business confidence across the board fell but remains in positive territory – at a score of 65.6 in the service sector and at 51.3 in manufacturing, giving an overall economic outlook for Coventry and Warwickshire of 56.3, down from 60.2 in the previous quarter.
However, there was positive news on the jobs front with employment prospects in the service sector up from 55.3 to 58.6. In manufacturing, the score moved to 59.2 from 53.4.
Todd Williams, Business Intelligence Analyst (Economy & Skills) at Warwickshire County Council, said: “Quarter four at a national level fell primarily due to a decrease in manufacturing output, alongside softening growth in services output. Meanwhile, the latest QES results show the local economy maintaining optimism, with the main exceptions being cashflow and exports.
“The results show that the overall economic outlook index for Coventry and Warwickshire is exceeding the national trend. Local manufacturing and services businesses remain positive about the domestic market, while sentiment about the overseas market is clearly pessimistic. New orders, especially from Europe, have weakened significantly at the national level.
“Local concerns around labour costs remain a significant concern for both the services and manufacturing sectors, with the manufacturing sector also being very concerned about utilities, raw material costs and corporate taxation. Employment is expected to increase, contrary to the national picture, with ongoing concerns around recruitment challenges. Local investment in training continues to increase, particularly for manufacturing businesses.”
Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is pleasing to see that local companies are still looking to grow from an employment point of view, especially as there were additional burdens placed on businesses through a higher minimum wage and an increase in employers National Insurance which our national QES data suggests is having a bigger impact on recruitment in other Chamber areas. It is absolutely crucial that they can find the skills needed support their growth.”