A SURVEY today suggests Yorkshire employers may be cautious about taking on new staff in the coming months, but another says the region boasts a better than average sickness record.

Workforce specialists Manpower said the regional Outlook had fallen five points to plus one per cent, four points below the national average and, along with the south-west, the lowest Outlook in the country.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 2,110 employers. and asks whether they intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter.

The national seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook has fallen one per cent for the second successive quarter to plus five per cent. Manpower said this second successive fall showed while there was still a strong requirement for new workers, overall businesses’ hiring intentions appeared to have been hit by Brexit uncertainty.

Meanwhile the 2016 Sickness Absence Survey report, published by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and employee benefits company, Jelf, 5.1 days a year were lost to sickness per person in Yorkshire and Humber, down from 5.2 days a year previously, and lower than the 5.3 days per person lost on average in the UK.

The region had moved up from seventh to fifth in the UK for sickness, behind the south-east, south-west, West Midlands and North East.

In addition the absence rate in the region had decreased from 2.3 per cent to 2.2 per cent, beating the national average of 2.3 per cent.

Andy Tuscher, EEF Yorkshire regional director, said: “It’s interesting to see how our region compares for sickness rates, but there is a serious concern here. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that keeping people fit and healthy, while enabling a speedy return to work from absence, is essential to economic growth."