REC REPORT WARNS OF UK STAFF SHORTAGES
The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has published a new report providing a comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.
Key findings include:
· Permanent placements growth reaches 27-month record
· Temp billings increase at the fastest rate for nearly two-and-a-half years
· Marked decline in staff availability contributes to further increases in pay
Recruitment agencies signalled a sustained and marked increase in demand for staff. Furthermore, overall demand for staff rose at its joint-strongest pace for 23 months (on par with May 2017).
However, the availability of both permanent and temporary workers continued to fall sharply during July. The rate of reduction eased for permanent staff, but the availability of temporary candidates declined at the quickest pace for just over a year-and-a-half.
Starting salaries for successful permanent candidates rose further in July, with the rate of inflation reaching a 20-month record. At the same time, hourly pay rates for short-term staff continued to increase sharply.
The demand for staff across the private sector continued to outpace that recorded for the public sector in July.
The number of vacancies at private sector companies increased sharply overall, with growth picking up slightly since June. However, growth in demand for both temporary and permanent workers softened across the public sector.
July survey data signalled sharp increases in demand for permanent workers across all monitored job categories, led by Engineering. Accounting/Financial and IT & Computing achieved second and third place in the rankings, respectively.
Kevin Green, REC Chief Executive says:
“The jobs market continues to confound expectations with both permanent and temporary placements growing at the fastest rate for over two years. Starting salaries are also still rising, so for workers who want to boost their earnings now is a good time to consider moving job.
“It's clear that employers are having to work even harder to fill jobs as vacancies rise and candidate availability shrinks. UK employment remains at an all-time high and looks set to keep improving. The parts of the economy most reliant on European workers are under even more pressure as many EU workers return home. Employers are not just struggling to hire the brightest and the best but also people to fill roles such as chefs, drivers and warehouse workers."
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