Executives from the recruitment industry responded to UK jobs numbers released 13 August by the Office for National Statistics.

Recruitment and Employment Confederation

“Today’s data reflects the cooling market recruiters reported in the Spring — though there are clear positive signals in things such as the upswing in temporary work,” said Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation said. “Vacancies have now normalised towards their pre-pandemic norm and cooling pay growth justifies the Bank of England’s recent interest rate decision.

“It is very clear where the challenge lies in our jobs market. Employment rates are still well below pre-pandemic levels and economic inactivity is way too high. It is essential that the new government works with businesses to address this — and makes sure its plans for workplace regulation don’t put barriers in the way of getting jobs for those who really need them.”

ManpowerGroup UK

“There are some signs that the labour market is beginning to loosen marginally, with overall job openings continuing to decline and unemployment decreasing slightly on the quarter to 4.2%, having been around the four percent level for several months,” said Petra Tagg, director of ManpowerGroup UK.

“Wage growth is still slowing although it remains high at 5.4% for average regular earnings and 4.5% for total earnings. In real terms, this was 2.4% and 1.6% respectively between April and June.

“Despite these cooling trends, vacancy levels are still above pre-pandemic levels and competition for specialist talent is fierce in almost every industry, with skills shortfalls still at an 18-year high. This is creating a situation where the hiring intent is positive, but in large part because the churn of existing roles means employers are struggling to fulfil their ambitions to grow. 

“A lack of workforce participation from those who are of working age is still constricting economic growth and more than 2.8 million people are affected by long-term sickness (out of more than 9 million who are currently classed as ‘economically inactive’). Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s election pledge to get more people into work is welcome, but how the ‘inactivity’ numbers change will depend on myriad factors including the Government’s workplace reforms, outcomes of the new independent investigation into the NHS, and the speed of technological progress in AI and automation.”