Temp and perm billings on the increase, says Report on Jobs
Appointments have increased at their fastest rate for more than two and a half years, according to the latest ‘Report on Jobs’.
July’s data, published this morning from financial information and services company Markit and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, reveals permanent placements increased at their quickest pace in 27 months, with temp billings also improving to hit a near two-and-a-half year high. Overall demand for staff increased at its joint-strongest pace for 23 months – equal to that in May 2017.
Availability of both permanent and temporary workers continued to decline sharply during July, with the rate of reduction easing for permanent staff, but declining at its quickest pace for just over a year-and-a-half for temporary candidates.
Starting salaries for those landing permanent roles rose further in July, coinciding the rate of inflation reaching a 20-month record, while hourly pay rates for short-term staff continued to increase sharply.
The strongest increase in permanent placements was posted in the Midlands, closely followed by the North of England, with the weakest increase seen in London, where growth hit an eight-month low.
However, all monitored regions saw sharp increases in temp billings during July, led by the North of England.
The July data also signalled sharp increases in demand for permanent workers across all monitored job categories, led by engineering, followed by accounting/financial and IT & computing.
Blue-collar work posted the quickest upturn in temporary staff demand of all nine job categories in July. Hotel & catering and nursing/medical/care also saw steep increases in demand, while executive/professional ranked bottom.
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