Permanent Placements up 10% as Employers Shun Short-Term Hiring
According to a new survey from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, Professional recruitment firms are reporting that the number of candidates securing permanents roles in Jan 18 increased by ten percent
APSCo's data, which focuses on professional recruitment, reveals that vacancies for permanent staff also remained strong, increasing by 0.3% over the same period. This stability is reflected in the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics which reported in February that UK employment levels now sit at 75.3%, a figure that was higher than a year earlier and the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971.
While overall demand for talent remains resilient, vacancies for finance professionals to work on a permanent basis were particularly strong, jumping by 16% year-on-year.
Contractors out on assignment down
Demand for contractors decreased across many of the trade association's core sector groups. Vacancies within engineering, for example, slipped by just 5%, while demand within IT and marketing fell more significantly (by 8% and 21% respectively). Finance was the only sector where vacancies for non-permanent roles increased, with demand for contractors up by 2%.
The overall number of contractors out on assignment, meanwhile, dipped by 16% during the same period. This can largely be attributed to a significant 38% year-on-year fall in IT professionals working on a contract basis during this time.
Average salaries stable
APSCo's figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors dipped by 1.2% year-on-year. This figure is characterised by notable fluctuations in terms of sector, with financial services and engineering, for example, recording uplifts of 1.8% and 2.4% respectively.
