Staff demand reaches six-month high in both temp and perm roles

May saw steep increases in both permanent and temp billings, according to the latest Markit/Recruitment & Employment Confederation Report on Jobs.

The findings, released this morning, reveal permanent staff appointments continued to rise, albeit to a five-month low, while temp billings increased at their quickest rate this year.

Growth in demand for staff reached a six-month high in May, with sharp increases in both permanent and temporary roles.

Overall, candidate availability fell at a sharper rate midway through Q2. Permanent candidate numbers fell at the fastest rate for four months, while short-term staff availability fell away at the quickest rate since last November.

Of the five monitored UK regions, the sharpest increase was registered in Scotland, closely followed by the Midlands, while weakest growth was recorded in London.

As with permanent placements, Scotland led the way in terms of temp billings growth regionally. However, sharp increases were also recorded in the Midlands, London and the South of England, while the North of England witnessed the least marked rate of expansion. While engineering led the way in terms of demand for permanent staff, vacancies rose sharply across all other monitored categories, apart from retail. Demand for temporary staff rose across all of the 10 monitored job categories, led by blue collar and engineering with the weakest increase in job vacancies posted in retail.

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