Partner Article

Demand for staff at fifteen year high

The demand for workers in the UK is at a fifteen-and-a-half year high although the growth of appointments has slowed down in January.

According to a major survey of recruiters, the number of available candidates has declined in January, albeit at the slowest rate in three months.

The private sector yielded the fastest growth in vacancies, although demand for workers was also evident in the public sector.Â

Demand for permanent workers was strongest in the engineering, construction and accounting and financial sectors, while demand for temporary staff was strong across secreterial/clerical and “blue collar” sectors.

Skills such as accounting, frabrication, driving and IT developing were reported as in short supply among permanent workers.

Upward growth of salaries attached to permanent jobs remained, broadly at a similar pace to December 2013’s six-year peak.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of Business Services at KPMG, said: “Employer confidence continues to grow, with the thirst for new staff hitting a fifteen-and-a-half year high in January. In a week showing improvements to UK construction figures and growth across the Eurozone manufacturing industry, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if other sectors begin to report peaks in performance.

“Yet no one should be fooled into thinking that the road ahead will be easy to travel. Earlier this week markets across the globe fell as investors were rattled by weak data. It’s unlikely to herald a crisis, but should serve to ensure employers remain vigilant to business threats.

“The warning has been noted by employees because, although jobs are being created, January saw another decline in the number of people putting themselves on the jobs market. The preference seems to be for temporary roles, suggesting that employees are adopting a ‘try before you buy’ mentality before committing to long-term roles.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .