Permanent staff placements and temporary billings both continued to rise sharply in June, however candidate availability declined at a steeper pace, according to the latest Report on Jobs from IHS Markit/REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation).

The Report on Jobs also showed that the strong demand for staff led to further marked rises in pay.

For permanent staff placements, June’s survey data showed an increase for the 23rd month in a row, though the rate of expansion softened to the least marked since October 2017. Meanwhile, agencies’ billings received from the employment of temporary/ contract staff rose further in June. Though sharp, the rate of expansion was the slowest recorded since March.

For the Report, recruitment consultants in the UK were asked to report whether availability of permanent and temporary staff has changed on the previous month.

The number of people available to fill permanent job roles continued to fall markedly at the end of the second quarter. The rate of deterioration was the most severe since January. The report said recruiters commented that some people were reluctant to move roles due to an uncertain economic outlook. Temporary/contract staff availability fell in June, thereby extending the current trend to five years. The rate of reduction was the sharpest since last November.

In terms of vacancies, Permanent staff vacancies continued to rise at a faster pace than short-term roles, though rates of growth remained steep across both categories.

Data for June indicated that permanent staff vacancies rose across all ten monitored job categories with IT & Computing and Engineering leading the overall upturn in demand for permanent workers. Meanwhile, Blue-Collar topped the rankings for demand for short-term staff during June, followed by Nursing/Medical/Care.

Neil Carberry, REC Chief Executive, commented, “Recruiters report that some of this high vacancy rate may be driven by good demand from companies not being matched by candidate willingness to move in the face of the current economic uncertainty.”

“Across the majority of sectors, both temporary and permanent opportunities are growing, and a lack of candidates means it is no surprise to see starting pay also rising,” Carberry said.

The Report also showed that hourly rates of pay for contract/temporary staff increased again in June. Despite easing since May, the rate of inflation was sharp and remained close to April’s two-year peak. Permanent starters’ salaries also increased sharply during June. Although the rate of inflation softened from May’s three-year record, the latest increase remained among the sharpest seen since 2015.