In the topsy-turvy world of modern UK politics, those who won are considered losers while those who fell short of victory by some fifty seats are acclaimed by the media as having scored some famous victory. Theresa May’s Conservative government certainly took a big hit. Losing 13 seats means that they no longer have the crucial majority needed to enact their proposed legislative programme. They will now be relying on the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland to shore up their vote. Let’s take a look at what the new political landscape might mean for the job market. 

The Brexit Issue

The Prime Minister called the general election because she wanted a mandate to pursue her ‘hard Brexit’ policies. A hard Brexit involves leaving the European Union and also abandoning the Single Market and other pan-European deals and contracts. An increased majority would have allowed May to push through legislation to this effect. Now that she has to rely on the DUP to get a vote through parliament, the hard Brexit option is more-or-less off the table. The DUP want a soft Brexit to ensure that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains porous.

The Economy

How the UK economy fares is intimately tied up with the fallout from Brexit. As usual, economists are divided on precisely how the economy will be affected by leaving the EU. Some economists are saying that an exit will be great for the UK as we will be able to form trade deals with the rest of the world unencumbered by weighty EU rules. Others are saying it will be disastrous as we will lose access to tariff-free trading with all of our closest neighbours. The economists are united in one opinion: things are definitely going to change.

The Job Market

The job market is linked to the state of the economy, but the relationship is not as simple as is sometimes made out to be. For instance, the fall in Gross Domestic Product in 2009 did not have the expected negative impact on employment figures – instead, the market changed. People shifted to part-time or less secure work. This last big change led to the rise of the ‘gig economy’ – characterised by companies such as Uber and Deliveroo. It is likely that Brexit will have similar unforeseen effects.

The Energy Market

If we can no longer buy energy tariff-free from Europe, surely that will provide an incentive to generate more of our own. The rights granted by our government to the Chinese, in partnership with French state-owned power company EDF, to design and build the nuclear power station at Hinkley Point might be emblematic of the way energy investment might look post-Brexit. That project is estimated to generate 25,000 job opportunities before it will generate its first gigawatt of power.

The Conservatives manifesto promises to increase the production of shale gas extraction looks likely to be shelved. With so slim a majority (even with the DUP on board) the party can’t afford to have any MP rebelling. Fracking tends to go down badly at the local level where campaign groups can put pressure on their constituency MP.

As we have seen in this very brief survey of the current political landscape (and it could all change again if the Tories fail to put together a Queen’s Speech that they and their new allies can agree on) there’s a lot of uncertainty about. That being said, the population are going to continue to have energy needs and those needs will need to be met by whoever is in power. This means if you have the skills to work in the energy sector, your job may be more secure than the jobs in some sectors that are less well suited to riding out rocky economic times.  

At People with Energy, we work with companies to find them the very best candidates to apply for the positions they need to fill. Search our jobs page to find out what’s currently being advertised.

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