Each month here at Swindale Parks we contribute to a UK Report on Jobs which is sponsored by KPMG and the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation). It provides an excellent insight into a myriad of critical recruitment topics including hiring activity, candidate availability, and salaries. As you strive to keep your current employees happy and attract the best new talent to help your company grow you may find some of the content very useful.
Here is a summary of the main findings for February:
A softer, but still rapid increase in hiring activity - UK recruitment consultancies recorded a further robust increase in hiring activity during February amid reports of rising workloads at clients and greater confidence in the outlook. That said, permanent placement growth eased to an 11-month low, and temp billings also expanded at a softer pace, with recruiters frequently stating that candidate shortages had limited their ability to fill roles.
Candidate supply falls at the quickest rate for three months - the total availability of candidates fell at the sharpest rate since last November in February, driven by steeper falls in both permanent and temp staff supply. Lower candidate numbers were generally attributed to ongoing tight labour market conditions and robust demand for staff. There were also reports that the pool of candidates was limited due to lingering pandemic-related uncertainty and fewer foreign applicants.
Vacancy growth accelerates for the first time since last July – overall, vacancies expanded at the quickest rate for three months in February. This marked the first acceleration of growth since last July and was driven by sharper rises in demand for both permanent and temporary staff.
Pay pressures sharpen in February - recruiters continued to see intense competition for workers in February, leading to further steep increases in rates of starting pay for both permanent and short-term staff. Notably, permanent starters' salaries rose at the second-sharpest pace since data collection began in October 1997.
If you want to discuss any of the above or any other recruitment-related issues then please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0121-585 6079.
Swindale Parks is over 30 years old as a business – we have lots of experience to share.