Growth in staff appointments accelerates in November

The Markit/REC Report on Jobs – published today (Thursday 8^th December) – reveals last month’s permanent placements soaring at their fastest rate since February, with temporary/contract appointments also reaching a seven-month high.

The Markit/REC Report’s November data signalled a broad-based upturn in demand for permanent staff; however, the month also saw the fastest decline in staff availability for eight months. The strongest rate of growth was seen for Engineering staff, followed by IT and Computing. Hotels and Catering continued to see the slowest increase in demand.

Demand for temporary staff was strongest for Blue Collar roles in November, while staff availability also dropped. Nonetheless, Nursing/Medical/Care also saw a sharp rise in demand. The only sector that saw demand fall for short-term staff was construction.

Pay growth also increased, with permanent starting salaries edging up to a six-month high in November. Short-term pay rates continued to rise too, and at the fastest rate since August.

All of the regions monitored by the survey – except Scotland – saw short-term staff billings increase in November. The most marked rates of expansion were seen in the North and London.

The month’s survey data pointed to further demand for private sector staff. While vacancies increased sharply for both permanent and temporary roles, both saw growth ease slightly since the previous month. At the same time, demand for public sector staff increased during November. Though the rates of increase were modest, it was the first time that vacancies for permanent and temporary roles had both increased in the sector since July.

REC Chief Executive Kevin Green commented: “The jobs market is ending the year on a high with appointments and vacancies at levels not seen since February. In all parts of the UK, recruiters are reporting increasing demand, so clearly businesses continue to seek growth in their workforces.

“The main concern as we look forward to 2017 is an increasing skills shortage. The UK employment rate is at a record high and jobs are going unfilled in key areas. We need engineers to deliver infrastructure projects, carers and nurses to look after our aging population, teachers to educate our young people, and right now we are short of warehouse workers, drivers and chefs to meet demand over Christmas.

“In the longer term, improving hiring and training of young people via apprenticeships will help to ensure that employers develop a pipeline of people with the required skills. But there is an immediate need which must be met now so that businesses can thrive. Talent shortages will be exacerbated if the government imposes restrictions on people coming to the UK from abroad. This might result in businesses considering options such as offshoring or relocation abroad; this is a risk we cannot afford.”