Professional recruitment firms now have 9{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} more vacancies on their books than this time last year according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo). This is despite the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), revealing that overall employment levels dipped by 63,000 in the three months to June.

• Permanent vacancies increase 9{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} year-on-year
• Finance & accounting roles up by 15{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}
• Contract vacancies remain stable
• Average salaries climb, increasing by 7.5{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}

The latest data from APSCo reveals that growth in the professional staffing market continues to climb across all of the trade association’s core sector groups. Permanent vacancies across finance & accounting, IT, engineering and media & marketing are all up year-on-year (15{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}, 7{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}, 1{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} and 2{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} respectively). This positive sentiment is in line with recent reports that the UK’s inflation rate increased in July, with the Consumer Prices Index measure rising to 0.1{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} from June’s 0{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}.
The continued rapid growth of the financial and accounting sectors is in keeping with reports from specialist recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, which found that finance job numbers were up 15{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} in quarter one year-on-year thanks partly to the growth of SME businesses.

APSCo’s figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors continue to climb steadily, increasing by 7.5{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} year-on-year, with engineering and finance, for example, recording uplifts of 6.1{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} and 7.5{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} respectively. This rise in remuneration for professionals far exceeds average salary rises reported by the ONS which found that earnings, including bonuses, grew at an annual rate of 2.3{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} in the three months to June 2015.
Credit: onrec.com