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Generally, the number of permanent job vacancies rose for the third successive month in April, whilst the number of temporary vacancies increased for the fifth month running.
REC's Report on Jobs Vacancies Index, which monitors demand for workers at recruitment consultancies, rose for the third consecutive month and at the fastest pace for twelve months, as the recovery in the job market seen in recent months continued to gather momentum.
Agents' average weekly billings from contract workers rose for the fourth consecutive month at the strongest pace since March 2001. The pace of billings' growth again exceeded that seen for permanent staff placements, highlighting firms' preferences for temporary and contract workers in the face of continuing economic uncertainty.
Agents' margins on contractors continued to decline for the twelfth successive month. However, having fallen at a survey record pace in February, the rate of decline eased slightly for the second month running to indicate the smallest drop in margins since last October.
Still a long way to go, but IT demand is steadily increasing |
Average permanent salaries rose for the fourth month running in April. The rate of increase remained modest compared with that seen prior to the slowdown of last year, but nevertheless rose to hit an eight-month high. Consultancies generally linked higher salaries to a modest tightening of the permanent labour market as demand rose and many key skill shortages persisted.
Demand rose for all main categories of permanent staff last month, with the exception of Medical staff. The second strongest rise in demand for permanent employees was seen in the Engineering and Construction sector. Particularly noteworthy in April was a rise, albeit only a marginal one, in demand for permanent IT workers, signalling the first improvement in demand within the sector for a year.
Demand for permanent staff in IT was recorded at 50.5 per cent and ranked in seventh place out of eight sectors. Last year demand was at 55.8 per cent and ranked fifth.
Only Software Engineers were recorded as being in demand in the permanent IT sector.
Agencies reported increased demand for temporary workers in all sectors in April, with the exception of IT. However, the rate of demand fell at the slowest pace for 14 months when demand first began to fall.
IT contract worker demand was put at 48.1 per cent and ranked eight, this time last year it was at 45.3 per cent and ranked in the same position.
Availability for contract workers rose strongly again in April - the twelfth consecutive monthly rise. The rate of improvement, however, slowed for the fifth month running, having reached a survey peak last November. Recruitment consultants largely attributed the latest easing in the rate of increase of temporary worker availability to a marked recovery in the demand for temporary workers seen in recent months.
Recruitment agencies reported that growth of average hourly rates of pay for temporary and contract staff rose at the fastest rate for seven months in April. Nevertheless, the rate of increase remained modest and well below the recent peak seen in July 2000. Consultants largely attributed higher rates of pay to a further significant increase in demand for temporary staff during the month, as well as shortages of certain skilled workers.
The only category of IT contract worker reported to be in demand was 'Web Designers.'
Brett Walsh, Head of UK Human Capital at Andersen, said: "The April Report on Jobs saw the first significant monthly increase in the overall number of people recruited into permanent jobs for a year. Demand for permanent staff continued to rise too across most sectors, including IT and computing, signalling the first improvement in demand for this sector in twelve months. On the wage front, average salaries in permanent roles showed signs of picking up, rising at the fastest rate for eight months. These rises indicate a positive but still modest strengthening of the UK labour market in the month."
Tim Nicholson, Chief Executive at REC, said: "Demand growth for both temporary and permanent workers in nearly every sector fuels confidence that the economic upturn is real and sustainable, and not just a blip. UK Plc's hunger for flexible worker solutions in conditions like these could be threatened, however, by the proposed EU Agency Workers Directive, which threatens to introduce rigidity, over-regulation and extra cost to the UK labour market."
According to Jobstats, the average IT contractor rate is £24 per hour. The average salary for permanent employees is £37,000 per annum.
The five most popular skills are:
Management 26.8 per cent - £27 per hour, £41,500 per annum;
support 22.3 per cent - £19 per hour, £33,700 per annum;
Analyst 17.2 per cent - £27 per hour, £36,400 per annum;
Design 17.1 per cent - £34 per hour, £38,900 per annum;
Unix 16.6 per cent - £34 per hour, £39,100 per annum.
The five most popular locations are:
London 27.2 per cent - £24 per hour, £44,100 per annum;
City 6.5 per cent £29 per hour, £48,200 per annum;
Berkshire 5.4 per cent £28 per hour, £39,200 per annum;
Surrey 4.2 per cent £20 per hour, £37,100 per annum;
Hampshire 3.1 per cent £27 per hour, £34,800 per annum.
According to iProfileStats, the top five skills in demand are:
| Rank | Skill | | 1 | JAVA | | 2 | C++ | | 3 | Unix | | 4 | MS SQL Server | | 5 | MS Visual Basic |
The top five skills by rate are:
| Rank | Skill | Rate | | 1 | UML | £57.27 | | 2 | Java Servlets | £56.23 | | 3 | Java Server Pages | £54.10 | | 4 | OO Analysis and Design | £51.38 | | 5 | MS Project | £51.31 |
The top five skills by salary are:
| Rank | Skill | Rate | | 1 | MS Project | £45,540 | | 2 | OO Analysis and Design | £44,800 | | 3 | Java Servlets | £44,444 | | 4 | Visual Studio | £44,227 | | 5 | JCL | £41,666 |
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Richard Powell, Shout99
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