Hiring has fallen to its slowest rate in a year despite vacancy growth hitting a six-month high, a poll of employers has found.
The latest Report on Jobs survey, by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, saw its permanent placement index drop to a 12 month low of 64.1 in March. The temporary placement index also fell to an 11 month low of 60.7.
The index is based on the survey of 400 recruiters and is calculated by adding the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses. A score higher than 50 indicates more employers are boosting employment, and a score below 50 indicates the reverse.
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The report also found that labour supply continued to decline, with the total staff availability index reading 31.9, while permanent staff availability fell for the fourteenth consecutive month and at the quickest rate in four months.
Jon Boys, labour market economist at the CIPD, said the contest for talent was still “fierce”, and recommended employers looking for candidates focus not just on starting salaries but also on aligning their offerings to candidate values. “This includes flexible working in all its guises, not just home working,” he said.
Boys added that existing workforces were sometimes overlooked as a potential pool of talent. “Employers must consider the...
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