November’s Report on Jobs survey signalled that permanent staff placements rose at the fastest rate for thirty-two months, while growth of temp billings hit a three-month high. Employment was driven up by strengthened demand for staff, and competition for talent resulted in increased inflation of wages and salaries.
The Report on Jobs, published today by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG, provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies and employers, as well as data on national newspaper recruitment advertising.
Commenting on the latest survey results, Michael Carter, People Services Partner at KPMG said:
“Of particular note in November is the rate of pay inflation for permanent staff, which is the highest in almost 6 years. Temporary staff also experienced a robust rise in pay inflation. This will clearly bring problems for employers in terms of increasing pay bills, and they will want to ensure that their ever-increasing investment in staff is justified in terms of increasing returns.
“In the lead up to Christmas, employers will particularly want to ensure that productivity and performance is maximised, by, for example, focussing reward to the achievement of business strategy. Specifically targeted commission and bonus plans can help drive the required business behaviours, whilst ensuring that the overall pay bill remains affordable in the context of the organisation's achievements.”
Also commenting on the report, Marcia Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)said:
“In his pre-budget report the Chancellor recognised that steps had to be taken to address the skills deficit that continues to hinder Britain’s global competitiveness. We urge the Government to ensure that skills training is tailored to business need so that the month on month skills shortages, highlighted in Report on Jobs, can be tackled.”
Growth of employee appointments accelerated...
Latest data signalled continued growth of recruitment consultancies’ employee appointments during November. Permanent staff placements increased at the sharpest rate for thirty-two months, underpinned by rising numbers of job vacancies at employers. Meanwhile, temporary/contract staff billings rose at the fastest pace for three months.
...supported by further expansion of demand for staff
Consultancies reported a further expansion of job vacancies at client businesses in November. Moreover, the rate of expansion accelerated to a twenty-three month high. Growth of demand remained stronger for permanent staff than for temporary workers.
Pay inflation strengthened...
Permanent staff salary inflation picked up to a seventy-one month high in November, driven by robust demand for staff and shortages of suitable candidates. Temporary/contract staff pay also increased, with the rate of inflation close to October’s twenty-two month high.
...as skill shortages persisted
There were further reports of skill shortages in November, mainly amongst candidates for permanent jobs, as temporary/contract staff availability was broadly unchanged since the previous month.
-ENDS-
Further information:
For further information please contact:
KPMG: Judith Dow, KPMG Corporate Communications on 0207 694 8584
or the KPMG Press Office on 0207 694 8773
REC: Susanna Loughnane at the REC press office on 01753 827 282
NTC (technical/data queries): Chris Williamson on 01392 202 361 or Jack Kennedy on 01491 418687
Notes to editors:
The Report on Jobs is a monthly publication produced by NTC on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. 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 NTC, 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.
With the exception of the Press Recruitment Advertising Index, 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.
Recruitment Advertising in National Newspapers data is derived from original survey data collected from media owners by NTC on behalf of the UK Advertising Association together with information from Nielsen Media Research. The data from both NTC and Nielsen Media Research refer only to advertisements in UK national newspapers and therefore tend to reflect trends in the managerial, professional white collar and executive job markets.
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 association for the £24.5 billion private recruitment and staffing industry in the UK, with over 8,000 recruitment agencies and 5,500 recruitment consultants in membership. There are 1.2 million temporary workers registered with UK agencies, and up to 1 million temps are deployed in industry, commerce and the public services every day.
NTC Economics
Farm Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, RG9 1EJ. Tel: 01491 418700. Fax: 01491 571188.
NTC Economics is one of the world's largest specialist providers of business research information, operating business surveys on behalf of blue chip clients. Current research includes continuous surveys providing original data on economic conditions in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Greece, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Japan and China. NTC surveys are widely used by governments, businesses and financial markets.
