The main findings for July 2023 from the latest UK Report on Jobs, sponsored by KPMG and the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation), are as follows (the full report is available on request):
Accelerated drop in permanent staff appointments
A weaker economic climate and reduced market confidence weighed on recruitment activity during July, according to the latest survey data. Permanent staff appointments declined at the steepest pace for just over three years, as concerns over the outlook made clients hesitant to commit to new staff. Concurrently, growth in temp billings edged down to a fractional pace that was the slowest recorded since last October.
Sharper rise in candidate availability
The latest survey showed that faster increases in the supply of both temporary and permanent workers drove the sharpest upturn in overall labour supply since December 2020. There were frequent reports that redundancies and hiring freezes had underpinned the latest improvement in staff availability.
Salary inflation edges lower, but remains marked overall
Competition for skilled candidates and the increased cost of living continued to place upward pressure on rates of starting pay during July. Salaries for newly placed permanent workers rose sharply, despite the rate of inflation slipping to the lowest since April 2021. Temp pay meanwhile increased at the softest pace in 29 months, albeit solidly overall
Overall vacancies expand at slowest rate in 29 months
Growth of demand for staff continued to moderate at the start of the third quarter. Notably, total vacancies increased at the slowest pace in 29 months, and one that was well below the series trend. The latest upturn in demand for permanent workers was the weakest seen over the current period of recovery that began in March 2021. Concurrently, the rate of short-term vacancy growth was among the slowest recorded over the past three years.
Hopefully this will provide you with an excellent insight into a myriad of critical recruitment topics including hiring activity, candidate availability and salaries. As you strive to keep your current employees happy and attract the best new talent to help your company grow you may find some of the content very useful.
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