According to new survey data from The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), the permanent professional markets is holding firm.
The news comes despite the increasing uncertainty and warnings as to the implications of the UK exiting the EU without agreement.
And, as new ONS data reveals that there are 261,000 more people in work than a year earlier, APSCo’s data reinforces that despite market variables, employers are still looking to lock down talent with sectors such as IT showing a dramatic 46% swing in permanent placements, and five out of the six major industries seeing upward movement on salaries.
With signs that the contractor market is stabilising as employers turn to shore up gaps in their resourcing policies, forward demand for both permanent jobs and contractor assignments has slightly strengthened, showing an increase on previous months with a slight annual decrease in permanent vacancies advertised of -2% and -6% for contractors against 2017.
APSCo’s CEO, Ann Swain has warned that whilst the ‘here and now’ is reflecting a strong market, employers are undoubtedly going to have to work harder as Brexit approaches and candidates opt to sit tight in the run up to EU exit: “Whilst there are variations across job markets and post-Brexit impact is hard to predict, our data shows that right now employers are retaining their confidence. And this is despite the increasing rhetoric around the implications of exiting the EU without agreement which seems likely to intensify in coming weeks. There is little doubt that employers are going to have to work harder to attract talent in months to come but right now, the jobs market is thriving with salaries increasing in five out of the six core sectors”.
John Nurthen for Staffing Industry Analysts says: “Professional staffing firms have received fewer vacancies for both permanent and temporary/contract jobs compared to last year. While they have managed to make up for the drop in demand by identifying more candidates for permanent roles compared to last year (placements are actually up 10%), temporary/contract placements are down by 14% showing that supply is even weaker than demand.”
