Permanent placements in UK fall for 2nd month in a row in November '22

Three of the four monitored English regions registered lower permanent staff appointments in November, with the quickest reduction seen in London. The Midlands bucked the trend, and recorded a fresh rise in placements, albeit one that was modest.

Overall demand for workers in UK expanded at the softest rate since February 2021 during November 2022. While temporary vacancies continued to expand more sharply than that seen for permanent roles, in both cases the increases were the slowest seen for 21 months and below their respective long-run trends, as per the report.

UK saw the softest increase in permanent starters' salaries in 19 months. Although pay pressures remained historically elevated during November, the latest survey indicated that rates of inflation for both starting salaries and temp wages eased further. The latest increase in permanent starters' pay was the least marked since April 2021, while temp pay growth moderated to an 18-month low. Higher rates of pay were generally linked to competition for workers and the rising cost of living.

The country’s candidate supply in November 2022 declined at the slowest rate since April 2021. The overall availability of workers continued to deteriorate during November, and at a steeper pace than seen on average since the survey began 25 years ago. Tight labour market conditions, fewer foreign workers, and a greater hesitancy among people to take up new roles due to increased economic uncertainty all dampened candidate numbers, according to recruiters. However, the latest fall was the weakest recorded for just over a year-and-a-half amid softer declines in both permanent and temporary staff supply.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: “This month’s data emphasises that while employers are moderately more cautious in the face of economic uncertainty, this is not yet a major slowdown in hiring. While permanent recruitment activity has dropped from the very high levels of earlier in the year, the pace of that drop has tempered this month.

“In contrast, temporary hiring has accelerated again in the run-up to Christmas. There are clearly some seasonal factors at work here, with retail and healthcare recruitment leading the way. But there may also be some switching to temporary going on, as firms maintain flexibility ahead of next year”

“Of particular note this month is the softer rise in permanent starters’ salaries, with the rate of pay inflation easing to a 19-month low in November. This reflects the combined effects of employers reining in recruitment, candidate availability continuing to decline, and workers staying put for job security. So despite the cost of living pressures that households are enduring and the industrial relations impasse within many sectors, wage growth may well be trending down in the months ahead. Employers who are able to offer existing workers and candidates opportunities to upskill and reskill, rather than focusing solely on core pay, may well benefit most in this tight jobs market,” said Claire Warnes, partner, skills and productivity at KPMG UK.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)