Key points from the August survey:
- Permanent appointment growth for first time in three months after a two month decline
- Temporary position billings have increased at the fastest pace since May
- Permanent as well as temp/contract salaries have continued to increase which has been attributed to the continuing lack of suitable candidates
- The number of permanent and temporary placements increased, despite low candidate availability numbers
- Demand for staff has increased again but at a slower rate than July
- Unemployment has fallen yet again and is currently at the lowest rate for eight years
The latest figures from Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) ‘Report on Jobs’ showed a rise in the volume of permanent staff placements during August, following decreases seen in the preceding two months around the Brexit vote. Starting salaries also continued to rise in August with a faster rate of growth than in July.
Furthermore, temporary billings also rose at the strongest rate since May, having eased to a ten-month low in July, growth of short-term staff billings picked up in August. However, the recruitment sector experienced continued tight candidate availability with the supply of candidates to fill vacancies signalling sharper falls in both permanent and temporary staff availability.
Engineering recruitment ranked second in the most sought-after category for permanent staff in August with Executive search and Professional recruitment ranking fourth. In the temporary and contract recruitment sector, there was a growth of demand which was broad-based across monitored categories with engineering recruitment ranking second.
The rate of decline in availability of staff to fill permanent jobs slightly improved in August. The recruitment industry reported a continued shortage of key permanent staff skills in the following sectors:
The availability of temporary and contract staff availability deteriorated further in August. Key temp skills reported in short supply included:
Commenting on the Report on Jobs, Redline Group’s Managing Director, Martin Crapper said:
“The report strongly echoes Redline’s experience during this period. We were expecting to see some slowdown in permanent due to the uncertainly created by the vote in June, combined with the UK holiday period. However, quite the reverse has happened. We had significant activity momentum entering the period and this completely converted into offers and acceptances at a higher rate than earlier in the year. We had predicted the professional contractor sector (especially for high-tech engineers) would grow, and indeed it has both as a direct response to the June vote, but also due to the lack of availability of suitable permanent candidates for some roles.”
Martin continued: “The availability of candidates in the high-tech sector continues to be one of the key challenges for clients. Redline’s 35 years in the sector, and the corresponding knowledge, has created a network of contacts and information second to none. Combining this with wider access to online tools and data, gives us a distinct advantage in identifying potential candidates. Our focus on quality and in-depth screening means we still produce an acceptance ratio of c85% across permanent and contract roles. Ultimately, this means clients can access AND secure those hard-to-find candidates for their roles.”
For more in-depth information about recruitment solutions in the high-technology jobs arena, please contact Martin Crapper via email at mcrapper@redlinegroup.com.
Redline Group is a specialist recruitment consultancy sourcing and selecting professional & qualified Management, Technical and Sales staff for the European technology market. They provide recruitment, retention and management advice, and expertise to assist technology companies in identifying and developing the best talent for their organisations.