UK employers’ confidence in making hiring and investment decisions remained stable in the quarter ended June 2019 when compared to the previous rolling quarter, staying at net +1, according to the latest Jobs Outlook from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

At the same time, the net balance of employers’ confidence in the prospects for the UK economy improved by 1% this month to net -25, but still remaining in negative territory.

At net +17 and net: +5 respectively, the net balance of short-term hiring intentions for permanent and temporary agency staff were higher than in the January–March 2019 period. For long-term hiring, the net balance for permanent staff stood at +19 while the net balance for temporary agency staff stood at net +4.

Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, commented, “Headline jobs numbers remain positive, but our data shows that the business community is cautious about hiring in the current environment. While employers still believe in their own business, wider concerns about the economic outlook are leading to this more moderate approach.”

The JobsOutlook report also found that 78% of UK employers have either little or no surplus workforce capacity, including 46% of public sector hirers having no surplus capacity (up from 38% a year earlier.)

Meanwhile, 42% of employers of permanent staff expressed concern about the sufficient availability of appropriate candidates for hire. Health & Social Care, Hospitality and Construction were the skills areas of most concern.

REC also found that 92% of employers who recruit temporary agency workers highlighted the importance of a recruitment agency’s geographical and/or skills expertise when selecting their agency partners, up 70% year-on-year.

The data from the JobsOutlook report also showed that at 62%, the proportion of UK employers that had increased pay/earnings in the last year was significantly higher than recorded a year earlier (44%).