Permanent job placements decline further as uncertainty takes its toll
Last month saw a further reduction in permanent placements in the region amid lingering political uncertainty and reduced staff availability.
However, according to the latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs: Midlands, temp billings rose solidly, despite the pace of expansion easing to a three-month low.
At the same time, pay pressures softened in the latest survey period, with both starting salaries and wages rising at relatively subdued rates.
The report is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to around 100 recruitment and employment consultancies in the Midlands.
The number of permanent staff appointments across the Midlands continued to fall in November, as has been the case in each of the past 11 months. The decline was moderate overall, with anecdotal evidence linking it to continued political uncertainty. The reduction was the slowest since April, however.
Of the four monitored English regions, only the Midlands and the South reported a decline in permanent placements, with the South recording a sharper fall.
Recruitment firms across the Midlands reported an increase in temporary billings in November, extending the current sequence of increase to three months.
The Midlands reported the sharpest uptick of the four monitored English regions, followed by the North. The South was the only area to record a decline in temp billings in November.
November data signalled a further uptick in permanent vacancies across the Midlands. The increase was only marginal, however, and among the softest in the current 94-month sequence of growth. That said, the rise in the Midlands outpaced the UK average.
Temporary vacancies across the Midlands rose further in November, with the rate of growth accelerating to an eight-month high. The increase in the Midlands was solid, and in line with that seen at the UK level. All four of the monitored English regions registered an increase in temp staff demand in November, the sharpest of which was seen in the North.
Recruiters in the Midlands reported a further reduction in the availability of permanent candidates in November, stretching the current sequence of decline to more than six-and-a-half years. Respondents associated the latest fall, which was sharp overall, with economic and political uncertainty.
That said, of the four monitored English regions, only the South reported a softer rate of decline than that seen the Midlands.
Temporary staff availability continued to fall in November, as has been the case in each month since August 2013. Respondents linked the decline to candidate shortages amid continued Brexit uncertainty. Moreover, the latest reduction was the fastest since January and marked overall.
November survey data signalled a further increase in permanent staff salaries. The rise was only marginal overall, however, with the rate of inflation easing to the slowest since May 2013.
All of the four monitored English regions reported an increase in permanent salaries in November. The Midlands reported the softest rise, while the rate of salary inflation was sharpest in the North.
Neil Carberry, chief executive at the REC, said: “Today’s figures show exactly why this election needs to focus on work. The jobs market is still strong, but uncertainty is taking its toll. In the Midlands, permanent placements have now fallen for 11 months in a row and vacancies growth is around its weakest for a decade. Any incoming government must move quickly to boost business confidence and implement policies that will help companies and individuals to make great work happen.”
