Seventy-four per cent of employers intend to take on permanent staff in the next three months, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). This represents a recovery from a dip in hiring intentions in the last two months (62 per cent in May, 63 per cent in June), signalling that employers have more confidence following a period of uncertainty during the run up to the general election.
In the most recent JobsOutlook employers report improving levels of confidence. Eight out of ten (80 per cent) respondents said that economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting better. And almost half (46 per cent) expect hiring and investment to improve.
The regular monthly survey of 600 employers also found that:
- Seven in ten (71%) employers plan to hire permanent staff in the medium term
- Four in ten (41%) employers increased pay/earnings for staff in the last year, with none reducing pay
- Nearly all respondents (99%) said that agency workers are paid the same or more than they would be as a permanent worker
- Employers expect to see shortages in candidates for professional and managerial roles (14 per cent), construction roles (11 per cent) and technical and engineering roles (11 per cent) in the next year
- 96 per cent of businesses have ‘no’ or only ‘a little’ surplus capacity to accommodate any further increase in demand.
REC chief executive Kevin Green says:
“Our data shows that almost all businesses are operating at capacity and want to take on more staff to meet demand, but the reality is that chronic skills shortages are making this difficult.
“For workers the outlook is good. Starting salaries continue to rise as employers compete for talent, and permanent and temporary opportunities are available to those with the required skills and capability.
“With candidates in short supply employers need to think hard about how they attract jobseekers. Longer term, business, government and educators must work together to help alleviate the skills shortages so that candidates are equipped with the skills that employers need. It’s concerning that instead of meeting this challenge the government is making it harder for employers to bring in the people they need from overseas with the proposed changes to Tier 2 visas.”