The latest Report on Jobs has shown that although demand for temporary staff subsided a little in March, a rise in permanent recruitment was noted.
Compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), with help from KPMG, the report also demonstrated that the demand for staff overall was stronger throughout the month.
In fact, the number of roles on offer – be it marketing or language jobs – grew at the fastest pace recorded since July 2011. Although starting salaries for permanent roles stayed mostly the same, this was a marked improvement on the decline noted back in February. The REC’s director of policy and professional services, Tom Hadley, spoke out about the results.
Cited by Hrmagazine.co.uk, he said: “We have seen a rise in permanent appointments every month in the first quarter of 2012, with vacancy growth now at an eight-month high. This is good news for job-seekers and a positive indication of increasing employer confidence.
“This month’s data shows a slight decline in appointments of temporary workers. This may in part be linked to employer uncertainty over the Agency Worker Regulations, although it could mainly be due to the fact that increasing business confidence has resulted in more employers being prepared to take on permanent hires rather than temporary or contract staff.”
He wasn’t the only person to voice his thoughts though, as KPMG partner Ronnie McCombe called the results “encouraging”; telling talktalk.co.uk that they provide a much-needed boost for the employment market.