Professional recruitment firms in the UK reported that vacancy numbers flatlined in September with the number of permanent vacancies remaining unchanged year-on-year according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The APSCo data showed that permanent vacancies across financial services increased by 4% in the year to September. While opportunities for contractors increased by 8% over the same period. Permanent vacancies within the engineering sector dipped by 7% year-on-year in September.

Demand for permanent marketing professionals increased by 15% year-on-year in September while interim vacancies rose by 3% over the same period.

APSCo’s figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors increased by 0.8% year-on-year. This figure is characterised by notable fluctuations between sectors, with insurance, for example, recording an uplift of 12.4% while in banking average salaries were down 4.4% year on year. Average salaries within the professional sectors fall short of the national increase in pay as reported by the ONS which found that earnings grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in the three months to August 2016.

“While we have yet to see a discernible BREXIT effect, there may be an increase in temporary vacancies and a converse decrease in permanent hiring as the uncertainty of what is going to happened over the next couple of years becomes more certain”. Adam Pode, Director of Research for Staffing Industry Analysts, which compiles the report for APSCo, said.

“In the IT space, as we allude to in our report, there is also great concern over Fujitsu’s announcement that it is cutting almost 2,000 UK jobs early next year. According to the company, this is so it can remain competitive with foreign rivals that can offer services more cheaply. What is particularly concerning for the sector is the company is adamant that, “These changes are in no way linked to the decision by the U.K. to leave the EU,” Pode said.

“The former Chancellor, George Osborne, often spoke about the need to "rebalance" the economy away from financial services and towards manufacturing. Despite the fall in the value of sterling, this month’s figures seem to indicate that this is far from happening,” Pode said.

“With the huge ambiguity around what Brexit will eventually look like, and the associated volatility in the price of sterling, it is hardly surprising that professional hiring is flatlining,” Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, said. “However, conversations with our members have confirmed that businesses realise that whether the UK is eventually inside or outside of the single market of goods and services, we must keep the wheels in motion and the spread of vacancies across various professional sectors is indicative of how businesses are preparing for the UK’s eventual exit.”

“With its huge reliance on overseas relationships, it’s no wonder that recruitment activity within manufacturing and engineering has slowed. However the prognosis for opportunities in this area moving forward remains good, with the recent confirmation of UK-based contracts to build carriages for the Greater Anglia franchise, as well as orders to build new London Overground trains amongst others,” Swain said.

“While vacancies within financial services have remained strong in recent months as companies draft in experts to prepare for a new legislative landscape, it seems that organisations are now thinking more holistically about their Brexit defence strategies. A surprise post-referendum success story is the marketing sector, which can likely be attributed to the increasingly influential role that marketing plays in driving British output growth. It seems that organisations are realising that investing in marketing talent is crucial to remaining competitive in increasingly uncertain times.”