Contact: Ali Agmen-Smith
Deloitte
Public Relations
+ 44 (0) 207 303 0514
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 Report on Jobs shows that the UK labour market continued to gradually cool in July. Although further gains were recorded in employee placements, demand for staff and average pay, in each case growth eased again. Meanwhile, candidate supply shortages were reported to have been less widespread than one month ago, largely due to greater numbers of migrant workers entering the labour market.
Commenting on the latest report, Ashley Unwin, consulting partner at Deloitte said:
"Cooling demand for staff across sectors has eased pressure on pay, with average increases now at 4.1%. However, the impact of the Olympic win can already be seen in some areas, with growth in the construction and service sectors already apparent.”
Also commenting on the latest report, Marcia Roberts, Deputy Chief Executive of the REC said:
"For the fourth month in a row the UK manufacturing sector continued to shed jobs, but last month saw the largest fall for over two years. The widespread skills shortage of previous months is less evident as larger numbers of migrant workers and seasonal workers enter the job market and are placed by recruiters. Although growth in demand for both permanent and temporary workers continues to level out, we must not lose sight of the fact that there has now been continuous growth for over two years. Even with the continued decline in manufacturing, the UK labour market remains in good health, with a particularly strong showing for employment growth in the service sector last month.”
- Growth of staff appointments slowed
Growth of permanent staff placements and temporary staff billings eased to the lowest in five months and two years respectively. Nevertheless, solid gains were still recorded in each case, with the latest increases only marginally smaller than in June.
- Modest rise in employment
A modest rise in UK private sector employment was seen in July, according to the CIPS/NTC Research Employment Index, which is based on the Purchasing Managers' Index surveys. Service sector hiring picked up to the sharpest in three months, but growth of construction employment slowed while manufacturing staffing levels remained in decline.
- Demand for staff continued to ease...
Underlying slower growth of staff appointments was a further easing in the rate of improvement in demand for staff. Although growth remained robust, recruitment consultancies reported that July's increase in demand was the least marked in twenty-two months. Employers continued to show a preference for permanent over temp staff, though the gap in demand growth between the two narrowed slightly.
Evidence of slowing demand for staff was also provided by two other indicators. National press recruitment advertising in the UK fell 9.1% year-on-year in June, with both public and private sector job ads down on a year earlier. Additionally, the official number of job vacancies at UK employers was up just 3.5% on a year earlier in June – the slowest annual growth in sixteen months.
- ...while skill shortages narrowed...
Recruiters reported fewer instances of candidate shortages in July. The availability of permanent staff declined at the slowest pace in eighteen months, while the supply of temporary/contract staff was up marginally for the first time in twenty-two months.
- ...reducing upward pressure on pay
Cooling demand for staff and fewer skill shortages eased upward pressure on pay in July. Inflation of permanent salaries was the lowest in eighteen months, while temp pay rates increased at the least marked pace in almost two years. Reflecting the trend in demand for staff, permanent employee pay growth remained above that of temp hourly rates.
For further information please contact:
Deloitte:
Ali Agmen-Smith
Media & PR
020 7303 0514
aagmensmith@deloitte.co.uk |
REC:
Susanna Loughnane
REC press office
01753 672 755 |
NTC Research (technical/data queries):
Chris Williamson
01392 202 361
Jack Kennedy
01491 418687 |
Ends
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
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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.
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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.
