Permanent Placements Growth Remains Sharp but Temp Billings Rise at Weaker Pace
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Key points:
- Perm placements rise sharply, but temp billings growth eases to 13-month low
- Candidate availability declines at softest pace for a year
- Staff vacancies increase to weakest extent since December 2016
Summary:
The IHS Markit/REC Report on Jobs – published today – provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.
Growth in permanent placements outstrips that for temp billings
Demand for staff rises at softest pace for 15 months
Supply of candidates drops at weakest rate for a year
Overall candidate availability continued to decline sharply during March, though the latest reduction was the weakest seen for one year. A softer drop in permanent candidate supply contrasted with a slightly quicker deterioration in short-term staff availability.
Pay pressures remain marked
Average starting salaries continued to increase sharply in March, despite the rate of inflation softening to a ten-month low. Pay for temporary/contract staff rose at the quickest pace since last September.
Regional variation
The upturn in permanent staff placements was once again led by the Midlands, though rates of growth were marked in all of the other four UK regions monitored by the survey.
Sector variation
In the private sector, marked rates of vacancy growth were signalled for both permanent and temporary workers. Vacancies for both permanent and short-term staff across the public sector rose at steeper rates compared to those seen in February.
Engineering led the rankings for demand for permanent staff during March, closely followed by IT & Computing. Nonetheless, permanent job vacancies also rose markedly across the remaining seven job categories.
All job categories monitored by the survey signalled stronger demand for temporary/contract staff in March. Hotel & Catering saw the most pronounced increase in demand for short-term staff, followed by Blue Collar.
REC director of policy Tom Hadley says:
ENDS
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