The REC’s latest JobsOutlook survey found that this confidence has boosted the number of employers looking for new permanent staff. Hiring intentions to hire over the next three months rose by three percentage points to net: +25, while demand for the next 4-12 months also increased to net: +30. Demand for temporary staff is also high at net: +17 in the short term and net: +10 in the medium term – although it has slowed from the previous rolling quarter.
With demand for staff remaining high, the current labour shortages look set to continue for some time.
Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, said:
“Businesses’ confidence levels remain robust and that has led to sky-high demand for workers. Demand is still growing for both temporary and permanent staff, but permanent hiring now leads the way after starting its recovery much later than for temps. This pattern follows the model of previous recoveries.
“This survey suggests that firms remained confident in late August that capacity constraints would not slow the recovery down. Given the events of the past week, we will be watching next month’s numbers to see whether that starts to change. It was good to see the government listening to business and introducing some measures to help ease HGV driver shortages over the weekend – though driving is not the only sector being severely affected by labour shortages. We’d like to see a collaborative approach going forward, with government departments and industry experts coming together in a joint forum to try and resolve this crisis.”
Other key figures from the latest JobsOutlook include:
- Despite the issues caused by worker shortages, business confidence in the UK economy rose by one percentage point to net: +19, suggesting that they feel the economy will be able to weather this crisis.
- In August, six in ten (58%) who recruit temporary agency workers were experiencing a shortage of suitable candidates to fill current roles.
