Employers adopting permanent placements over short-term hiring
Permanent placements continue to grow, as employers increasingly prefer them to short-term hiring. Figures also show vacancies for permanent positions remains high.
26 February 2018
Professional recruitment firms have reported an increase in the number of candidates securing permanent roles in January 2018, by 10 per cent year-on-year, according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).
While overall demand for talent remains resilient, vacancies for finance professionals to work on a permanent basis were particularly strong, jumping by 16 per cent year-on-year.
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The overall number of contractors out on assignment, meanwhile, dipped by 16 per cent during the same period. This can largely be attributed to a significant 38 per cent year-on-year fall in IT professionals working on a contract basis during this time.
John Nurthen, Staffing Industry Analysts’ executive director of global research commented, “There continues to be a clear split in demand for skilled professionals as staffing firms are finding it easy to place candidates into permanent roles but much more difficult to fill temporary and contract positions.“This schism in demand is most obvious in the social work and engineering sectors. With the latest unemployment rate down in February to 4.4 per cent from 4.8 per cent a year earlier, this tight labour market is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”
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Permanent placement vacancies up
APSCo’s data, which focuses on professional recruitment, reveals that vacancies for permanent staff also remained strong, increasing by 0.3 per cent 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 per cent, 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 per cent year-on-year.
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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 per cent, while demand within IT and marketing fell more significantly (by 8 per cent and 21 per cent respectively).Finance was the only sector where vacancies for non-permanent roles increased, with demand for contractors up by 2 per cent.The overall number of contractors out on assignment, meanwhile, dipped by 16 per cent during the same period. This can largely be attributed to a significant 38 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.“The market for permanent jobs started the year strongly, with financial services clearly leading the pack in terms of both demand and placements,” comments Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo.“The fact that the Bank of America has extended its London lease for another 10 years in commitment to the UK post-Brexit is indicative of the confidence that is driving this long-term approach to hiring in the sector. “Looking forward, with recent research suggesting that financial services is one of the sectors that will be impacted least by Brexit, we expect this positivity to continue.”John Nurthen, Staffing Industry Analysts’ executive director of global research commented, “There continues to be a clear split in demand for skilled professionals as staffing firms are finding it easy to place candidates into permanent roles but much more difficult to fill temporary and contract positions.“This schism in demand is most obvious in the social work and engineering sectors. With the latest unemployment rate down in February to 4.4 per cent from 4.8 per cent a year earlier, this tight labour market is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”
For related news and features, visit our Enterprise section. Look out for the launch of 2018’s Relocate Awards, entry is now open. Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.
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