Market Update for April 2018

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Posted Apr 18, 2018 by: Jon Barr

Vacancies

Demand for staff remained historically strong in March, despite the rate of growth softening from last August’s peak to the weakest pace for 15 months.
 
Permanent staff vacancies continued to rise at a slightly faster pace than that for temporary job roles. While the former grew at a pace identical to that seen in February, the latter noted growth had eased slightly from the previous month.
 
Public & Private Sector Vacancies
Staff vacancies continued to rise at sharper rates across the private sector compared to the public sector during March. In the private sector, marked rates of vacancy growth were signalled for both permanent and temporary workers. Vacancies for both permanent and short-term staff across the public sector rose at steeper rates compared to those seen in February.
 
Other Vacancy Indicators
Latest from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that job vacancies increased by 7.4% year-on-year in the three months to February, down slightly from a 9.4% rise in the three months to January. 
Engineering led the demand for permanent staff during March, closely followed by IT & Computing, with all other job categories showing growth with Executive/Professional growing the least.
 
Temporary/Contract Staff
All job categories signalled stronger demand for temporary/contract staff in March. Hotel & Catering saw the most pronounced increase in demand for short-term staff, followed by Blue Collar.
 

Remuneration

Permanent Salaries
Average starting salaries awarded to people placed in permanent jobs rose further in March. The rate of increase was sharp overall, despite softening to a ten-month low. Higher salaries were generally linked to scarcity of talent and low candidate availability. 
 
The South of England registered the sharpest increase in starting salaries, though marked rates of inflation were also seen elsewhere. 
 
Temp/Contract Pay Rates
Hourly pay rates for short-term staff increased again in March, thereby extending the current trend to 62 months. Notably, the rate of inflation edged up to a six-month record. According to respondents, reduced candidate availability was a key factor driving up pay.  
 
All regions noted higher wages for short-term employees, with the steepest rate of inflation noted in London. 
 
More information
If you want to find out more information about this report and dig deeper into the detail please get in touch with one of the team.
 
 
 
 

 

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