An improving UK economy is leading to difficulties for employers trying to fill newly-created middle management and professional jobs, Management Recruiters International (MRI) has found.

As a result, candidates are spoilt for choice when it comes to jobs – and employers must raise their game in terms of recruitment and hiring as well as their remuneration packages if they want their first choice to sign on the dotted line.

In one case cited by MRI, a company was so keen to bring a particular candidate on board that it paid him a bonus that had been only available to staff who had been there during a specified period.

MRI Worldwide senior vice president of operations Steve Mills advises employers to ensure processes are “faultless, and also that they have the flexibility to move fast to arrive at a decision, to avoid losing the ‘perfect/ideal’ candidate”.