The Report on UK Jobs is unique in providing the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies and employers to provide the first indication each month of labour market trends.
The main findings for May are:
Staff appointments continue to rise strongly…
Permanent staff appointments continued to rise at a robust pace, despite growth softening to a five-month low. Conversely, temp billings expanded at the quickest rate in 2018 so far.
…as demand for staff strengthens
Growth of demand for staff strengthened to a six-month high in May, with sharp increases in both permanent and temporary roles signalled by the latest data.
Sharp fall in candidate availability…
Overall, candidate availability declined at a sharper rate midway through the second quarter. Permanent candidate numbers fell at the fastest rate for four months, while short term staff availability deteriorated at the quickest pace since last November.
…leads to steepest increase in starting salaries for three years
Strong demand for staff and low candidate availability underpinned further increases in starting salaries and temp pay. Notably, salaries awarded to successfully placed permanent workers rose at the steepest rate for three years.
REC director of policy Tom Hadley says:
“Despite growth in demand for staff this month, we have seen another severe drop in staff availability. Whilst it is encouraging to see a rise in staff appointments for permanent and temporary staff, indicating that employers are feeling confident in making hiring decisions, a lack of candidates remains a major challenge for recruiters – particularly in areas like nursing, engineering, manufacturing and IT. Staff shortages are becoming business critical in many of these key sectors.”
“Because of the lack of candidate availability we are seeing employers paying higher salaries to attract the right people. This is only part of the solution, with employers also having to think about providing a more flexible working environment and progression opportunities. With skills needs and candidate expectations continuing to evolve, employers are having to radically re-imagine their hiring procedures. Government can help by ramping up the UK skills base and ensuring a balanced and evidence-based immigration system.”