It seems that the recent economic downturn is finally impacting on M&E jobs. According to a recent report conducted by business intelligence specialist Plimsoll Publishing, 115 of this country?s top 1,000 M&E contracting firms are currently in financial danger. Another 104 firms are at high risk of failure.

Among the 115 firms rated as being in danger, 56 increased their debts last year. While 78 saw their profits fall last year, 68 lost money. The costs of these companies are clearly ahead of their sales, and they have failed to respond to changes in their business structure. Even those 56 companies that managed to increase sales last year are seen as being desperate to maintain sales at any cost. One can easily imagine how many M&E contracting jobs have been sacrificed as these companies struggle to handle their rising debts and mounting losses.

Meanwhile, those 104 firms rated as being at high risk of failure must immediately start fixing their problems in order to survive. In the words of David Pattison, senior business analyst at Plimsoil: ?This is not easy; it means the company must accept it will be a smaller enterprise. Internally this will not be well received in the organisation, as job losses will generally be part of the plan? The objective must be to reduce the level of debt and get the business back on an even keel.???

Simply put, more M&E contracting jobs are going to be lost in the foreseeable future. However, for those companies that are unable to cut costs and reduce debts, selling out is always an option. Currently, 537 of this country?s top 1,000 M&E contracting firms are believed to still have cash to spend. As these companies can easily afford to finance a purchase, among their targets of an aggressive takeover may be any of those aforementioned 104 firms that are currently at high risk of failure.

Although a new owner can provide time and resource for a company to turn its performance around, this will inevitably involve reducing the size of the company in order to rejuvenate its business. There is no doubt that those who are less competitive in their M&E contracting jobs are the most likely to face redundancy.

Indeed, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics show that this country?s construction industry already suffered 48,000 redundancies in the last quarter of 2008. This represents a 50-percent increase in job cuts from the previous quarter, when the industry was hit by 31,000 redundancies. Facing such drastic figure, it is hard for anyone with jobs in M&E contracting to believe that the construction industry has actually been doing relatively well. Yet it is, particularly when compared to other industries such as finance and business services and distribution.

So, those who presently hold or are aspiring for M&E contracting jobs should well prepare themselves. As recessions often catch bad business out, those survivors of the current economic downturn will prove themselves as employers truly worthy of working for.