Engineering news
Engineers are among the most sought after professionals for companies recruiting new staff, new research has revealed.
A survey by Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG – published today – shows a marked growth of recruitment activity across the UK, with salaries rising quickly across employment sectors with recognised skills shortages.
Permanent staff placements rose at a rate unchanged from February’s considerable pace, while temp billings growth was only slightly slower than the five-month high recorded in the preceding period.
The research showed that average starting salaries for people placed in permanent job roles increased further in March, with the latest increase the strongest since last September.
The availability of staff to fill vacancies continued to decline in March. The latest drop in permanent candidate supply was the sharpest in four months, while temp availability deteriorated at the fastest pace since last October.
All monitored types of permanent staff registered higher levels of demand for their services in March. The most sought-after categories were Engineering and Accounting/Financial, marginally ahead of Executive/Professional.
Kevin Green, REC chief executive said: “Increases in starting salary offers are being driven by skills and talent shortages across the economy, and businesses are going to have to think hard about retaining scarce resource.
“As politicians debate skills, education and immigration in the run up to the election, we hope they recognise the potential impact of this skills crisis, because a lack of workers to meet demand threatens the sustainability of our economic growth.”
The research findings came from a survey of 400 recruitment companies.