Report on Jobs: Fastest rise in permanent staff placements for twenty-eight months

 

Key points:

- Growth of permanent staff appointments strongest since July 2007.

- Temp billings rose at sharpest rate for nineteen months.

- Permanent salaries increased for first time in fifteen months.


Summary:

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs - published today - provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.

Today's report shows that the recent upward trends in both permanent and temporary/contract staff appointments continued during November.

 
Growth of staff appointments accelerated again...

Both permanent staff placements and temporary/contract staff billings increased at faster rates in November, with the latest expansions the strongest for twenty-eight and nineteen months respectively.


...driven by stronger rise in demand for staff

Higher placements and billings were underpinned by a robust and accelerated rise in job vacancies during November.

Nursing/Medical/Care was the most in-demand category of permanent staff, while Engineering/Construction employees were the most sought-after temps.

    
Modest increase in permanent salaries

Permanent staff salaries rose for the first time in fifteen months in November, albeit only modestly. Hourly rates of pay for temporary/contract continued to fall, but the latest drop was the weakest in the current fourteen-month period of decline.

Slower rise in candidate availability  
Growth of staff availability eased further in November. The number of permanent staff available to fill vacancies increased at the weakest rate for seventeen months, while temp availability rose at the slowest pace since July 2008.

Comments:


Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, says:

"This is very positive news, November figures show the fastest rise in permanent jobs for 28 months.  Employers in nearly all sectors are lifting recruitment freezes and starting to hire again. Flexibility in the UK's labour market has proved effective in ensuring that unemployment has not reached the levels experienced by some of our international competitors. Whilst UK output has shrunk by 5.9 per cent, employment has declined by only two per cent.

"Despite the positive signs, the Government needs to do more - particularly to help the one million 18 to 24 year olds out of work in the UK. This week's white paper on jobs must include specific measures aimed at encouraging employers to take on young people. The business community also has a key role to play which is why the REC is this week launching a Youth Employment Task Force chaired by Baroness Prosser and involving a coalition of employers and recruiters who are in the front line of the UK jobs market."

Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG comments:

"Looking at the latest data one might get the impression that the recession is over. Confidence has definitely returned to the private sector and the UK jobs market looks healthier today than at any time in the last two and a half years. However, we are still to see the impact of the government's anticipated public sector cuts on the jobs market, which will play out over the next 12 to 18 months."

Full reports and historical data from the Report on Jobs are available by subscription. Please contact economics@markit.com

 

For further information, please contact:


KPMG

KPMG Press Office, Telephone 0207 694 8773


REC

Susanna Loughnane, Telephone 01753 827 282

Markit Economics (technical/data queries):

Chris Williamson on 020 7260 2329 or Jack Kennedy on 01491 461087

 

Note to Editors:

The Report on Jobs is a monthly publication produced by Markit Economics on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG. The report features original survey data which provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive monthly picture of recruitment, employment and employee earnings trends available.

The Report features original research data from Markit Economics, collected via questionnaire from a panel of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies. In 2000, some 1,326,000 people were employed in either temporary or contract work through consultancies and over 450,000 people were placed in permanent positions through consultancies. Data for the monthly survey were first collected in October 1997 and are collected at the end of each month, with respondents asked to specify the direction of change in a number of survey variables.

All Index numbers are calculated from the percentages of respondents reporting an improvement, no change or decline. These indices vary between 0 and 100 with reading of exactly 50.0 signalling no change on the previous month. Readings above 50 signal an increase or improvement; readings below 50 signal a decline or deterioration. Reasons given by survey respondents for any changes are analysed to provide insight into the causes of movements in the indices and are also used to adjust for expected seasonal variations.


KPMG

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership operates from 22 offices across the UK with nearly 11,000 partners and staff.  The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.6 billion in the year ended September 2007. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 148 countries and have more than 113,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative. KPMG International provides no client services.


Recruitment and Employment Confederation

15 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 9XT. Tel: 020 7009 2100.   Fax: 0207 935 4112 Website: www.rec.uk.com
The REC is the representative association for the UK's £27 billion private recruitment and staffing industry with more than 8,000 recruitment agencies and 6,000 recruitment consultants in membership. There are over 1.2 million temporary workers registered with UK agencies and up to 1 million are deployed in industry, commerce and the public services every day.


About Markit

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About Markit Economics

Markit Economics is a specialist compiler of business surveys and economic indices, including the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) series, which is now available for 26 countries and key regions including the Eurozone and BRIC. The PMIs have become the most closely watched business surveys in the world, favoured by central banks, financial markets and business decision makers for their ability to provide up-to-date, accurate and often unique monthly indicators of economic trends.


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