After a long period of depression and gloom, the UK jobs market is beginning to show real signs of recovery.
The KMPG and Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) jointly published its ‘Report on Jobs’ on the 10th June. The report found that there was an increase in both permanent and temporary employment roles in the UK during May 2013, in fact reaching a 6 month high.
The REC report is regarded as the most influential in the industry as it pulls together information from recruitment agencies across the whole country.
REC Chief Executive, Kevin Green, said: “This month’s data is a strong indicator that the jobs market, the unsung hero of the UK economy over the last 18 months, is picking up pace. Permanent employment is at a six month high while the use of temps is also growing after last month’s blip.
“Recruiters tell us that employers are more optimistic and are planning to increase their temporary and permanent hiring. This is supported by the expansion of job vacancies and a slight increase in starting salaries.”
Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG, adds:
“It looks as if months of rhetoric are finally becoming a reality. With permanent placements hitting a six-month high it seems that private sector jobs are boosting the chances of economic growth.”
The REC report clearly showed a split in both sectors and geographic location in the UK. The demand for highly skilled roles such as engineering and IT jobs continued to grow strongly, compared to the construction and hospitality industries where there was very slow growth in the labour market.
In terms of location, London was surprisingly seen as the only area to see a decline in permanent roles, whilst the Midlands experienced a slower rise in temporary/contract roles than the other regions.
Private sector jobs showed the strongest growth since comparable date has been available since December 2011, with private sector temporary/contract jobs also showing their sharpest rise in the past 6 months. This compensated for the 5th consecutive month of decline for public sector jobs.
The Daily Telegraph also reported of the positive news in the IT industry. Not only are there an evidently growing number of IT jobs in the UK, but salaries in the industry are continuing to increase resulting in healthy morale within tech companies. According to a 2013 Salary Survey, 38 {6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} of the 4,251 surveyed technology professionals are optimistic about their career path compared to 29{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} last year. In even more positive news, 57{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} of respondents received an increase in their base salary.
Yet the REC report also highlighted that there was a decline in availability of candidates for permanent roles in May, meaning that this is perhaps the best time to go for that dream job.
Credit: rec.uk.com
