The Report on Jobs, published today by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Deloitte, provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies and employers, as well as data on national newspaper recruitment advertising.

The latest REC/Deloitte Report on Jobs showed that recruitment consultants’ permanent staff placements and temporary staff billings were up for the twenty-second consecutive month in March, at robust rates. Demand for staff again showed a marked improvement, despite growth easing slightly to a fifteen-month low. Consultancies reported that demand for all main categories of employee was higher than one month ago. Meanwhile, overall candidate availability fell for the seventeenth consecutive month, with the rate of deterioration slightly sharper than in the previous month. Pay inflation picked up to the strongest in three months, reflecting strong demand for staff and shortages of suitable candidates to fill vacant positions at employers.

Commenting on the latest report, Ashley Unwin, partner in the Human Capital practice at Deloitte said:

"Many companies taking on new staff this month have reported that recruitment is needed to maintain productivity. However, the current recruitment rush could lead to less thorough screening of candidates as pressure builds as well as contributing to unsustainable pay inflation. In the drive for productivity, companies need to consider the impact of short-term recruitment on their longer term growth and talent mix." 

Also commenting on the latest report, Gareth Osborne, Managing Director at REC reported that:

"The fact that recruitment activity for both temporary and permanent placements has now increased continuously for twenty-two months confirms that the UK jobs market is the most dynamic within the EU. At the same time, the latest figures show that skills shortages are continuing to have an impact on UK business and are putting more and more onus on recruitment providers to come up with pro-active and innovative measures for attracting suitable candidates. In the longer term, it is essential that the Government's Skills Strategy helps to create a larger pool of skilled workers."

• Growth of permanent staff placements and temporary staff billings remained robust
  March's Report on Jobs survey revealed further solid growth of recruitment activity. Permanent staff placements rose for the twenty-second successive month, with the rate of expansion picking up slightly following four previous months of easing growth. Temporary staff billings were also up for the twenty-second consecutive month, with growth remaining robust, albeit the least marked since July 2003. Consultancies reported that strong demand for both permanent and temporary staff had driven the latest expansions.
• Actual employment up moderately
  Actual private sector staffing levels rose at a moderate pace in the latest survey period, according to the CIPS/NTC Research Employment Index. Following February's sideways movement, March's expansion in workforces reflected sharper growth in service sector hiring, combined with a return to growth of manufacturing sector employment for the first time in four months. Construction again registered the most marked rise in employment of the three main sectors, despite growth easing to the slowest in seven months. In the majority of cases where higher employment was reported, rising levels of business activity at firms was indicated as the main reason.
• Strong improvement in demand for staff
  Although the Report on Jobs Vacancies Index fell fractionally in March, to a fifteen-month low, it still pointed to a marked rise in demand for staff. Demand for both permanent and temporary staff grew at strong rates, with all categories of employee registering a rise in demand from the previous month. Among permanent staff, Hotel & Catering staff recorded the greatest improvement in demand, while for temp staff, Engineering/Construction staff saw the most marked rise in demand.
  
  National press recruitment advertising in the UK was up 2.7% on the same period a year earlier in March. However, the Press Recruitment Advertising Index showed a slight deceleration in the annual rate of growth from January.
• Sharp fall in candidate availability
  The overall availability of candidates to fill positions at employers continued to deteriorate at a sharp pace in March. Both permanent and temporary staff availability declined at faster rates than in the previous month.
• drove pay rates up strongly
  The scarcity of suitable candidates, a product of the tight labour market and ongoing skill shortages, contributed to a further round of sharp pay inflation. Consultancies again reported higher pay rates for both permanent and temporary staff

For further information please contact:

Deloitte:
Ali Agmen-Smith
Media & PR, on 020 7303 0514
Email: aagmensmith@deloitte.co.uk

REC:
Susanna Loughnane
REC press office
Tel: 01753 672 755

NTC Research (technical/data queries):
Chris Williamson
Tel: 01392 202 361
Jack Kennedy
Tel: 01491 418687

Notes to editors:
The Report on Jobs is a monthly publication produced by NTC Research on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Deloitte. The report features original survey data which provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive monthly picture of recruitment, employment and employee earnings trends available.

The Report features original research data from NTC Research, collected via questionnaire from a panel of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies. In 2000, some 1,326,000 people were employed in either temporary or contract work through consultancies and over 450,000 people were placed in permanent positions through consultancies. Data for the monthly survey were first collected in October 1997 and are collected at the end of each month, with respondents asked to specify the direction of change in a number of survey variables.

As the leading UK human resources (HR) consultancy, Deloitte recognises the importance of comprehensive and reliable HR and job data. The NTC Report on Jobs provides such authoritative and timely information. This enables HR professionals to better understand, interpret and respond to the movements in the job market to deliver strategic value and bottom line impact as an informed business partner. Deloitte therefore believes Report on Jobs is an essential tool for the management kit-bag to help organisations win the war for talent and meet business objectives in an increasingly competitive and people critical environment.

With the exception of the Press Recruitment Advertising Index, all Index numbers are calculated from the percentages of respondents reporting an improvement, no change or decline. These indices vary between 0 and 100 with reading of exactly 50.0 signalling no change on the previous month. Readings above 50 signal an increase or improvement; readings below 50 signal a decline or deterioration. Reasons given by survey respondents for any changes are analysed to provide insight into the causes of movements in the indices and are also used to adjust for expected seasonal variations.

Recruitment Advertising in National Newspapers data is derived from original survey data collected from media owners by NTC on behalf of the UK Advertising Association together with information from Nielsen Media Research. The data from both NTC and Nielsen Media Research refer only to advertisements in UK national newspapers and therefore tend to reflect trends in the managerial, professional white collar and executive job markets.

Recruitment and Employment Confederation
36-38 Mortimer Street
London
W1W 7RG    
Tel: 020 7462 3260
Fax:020 7255 2878

The REC is the association for the £26 billion private recruitment and staffing industry in the UK, with over 6,500 recruitment agencies and 8,000 recruitment consultants in membership. There are 1.5 million temporary workers registered with UK agencies, and up to 1 million temps are deployed in industry, commerce and the public services every day.

Deloitte 180 Strand
London
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Tel: 020 7936 3000
Fax: 020 7583 8517

In this report references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP. Deloitte & Touche LLP's Human Capital practice is the largest fully integrated HR consultancy in the UK with more than 700 consultants covering the complete spectrum of strategic human resources. Consulting services include: HR transformation, shared services and outsourcing; international and domestic tax, actuarial and pensions; executive and employee compensation and benefits. Globally, Deloitte &Touche LLP is one of the world's largest HR consulting firms with over 6000 staff in 140 locations.

NTC Research
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NTC Research is one of the world's largest specialist providers of business research information, operating business surveys on behalf of blue chip clients. Current research includes continuous surveys providing original data on economic conditions in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Greece, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan and China. NTC surveys are widely used by governments, businesses and financial markets.