The June 'UK Report on Jobs' shows subdued business confidence driving a preference for short-term staff. Temporary staff billings rose at the steepest rate in over three years, while permanent staff appointments continued to decline, although at a much slower pace than in May.
Overall demand for staff weakened at a quicker rate, largely reflecting a steeper reduction in permanent job vacancies. At the same time, an increase in redundancies contributed to a further marked increase in candidate availability. Despite this, pay trends improved, with employers raising starting salaries and wages at a faster rate as they sought to attract and secure candidates with sought-after skills.
The KPMG and REC, 'UK Report on Jobs' is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.
The latest survey data showed that the number of people placed into permanent positions fell at a marginal pace - the softest in three months, while temp billings rose at the quickest rate since April 2023. These trends were often linked to wider economic uncertainty and cost considerations, which have driven a greater preference for short-term staff and projects.
UK recruitment consultancies signalled further increases in the rates of starting pay for both permanent and temporary workers at the end of the second quarter as efforts to attract top talent had placed upward pressure on pay offers.
Nursing/medical/care and engineering were the only two monitored sectors to see improvements in demand for permanent staff in June. Retail, meanwhile, posted the sharpest reduction in permanent vacancies.
Temp vacancies rose sharply in the blue-collar sector and solidly in the engineering sector. Of the eight other monitored areas that posted a reduction in temp staff demand, the most dramatic falls were seen in the Retail, Nursing/Medical/Care and Executive/Professional categories.
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