Contractor vacancy growth and demand was sustained or grew across most core contracting disciplines during June 2013. And some disciplines are starting to pull ahead.
Engineering contract vacancies increased by 22% between May and June and 8% year-on-year. And evidence that the property and construction recovery is gaining pace was shown by the 69% increase in contract vacancies compared to a year ago.
The latest set of Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) Monthly Trends data also shows that an increasing number of UK organisations prefer a flexible workforce – both contract placements and vacancies are up by 0.4% and 1.6% respectively month on month
“It is encouraging to see such an upswing in a sector that has suffered so much in the last few years,” notes APSCo chief executive Ann Swain on the construction sector recovery.
“The ongoing resilience of the engineering sector is obviously being driven by the huge increase in activity in the upstream oil and gas arena, but as this is a global industry, the UK does have to compete heavily for talent with other locations – all of which need the same skill sets.”
IT sector performance was solid, but uninspiring. The number of IT contract placements during June was 1.5% higher than a year ago, but vacancy growth over the same period has been flat.
The good news for the beleaguered financial sector is that, although placements are down 6% year-on-year, contract vacancies increased by 13%. This suggests that the sector is at the least stabilising, and at best experiencing growth.
Marketing and advertising contractors saw a 9% increase in vacancies year-on-year and a 5% increase in contractor placements. According to APSCo, although contractors are covering some of the shortfall, permanent placements were down 21% in the last year, which it believes is due to a massive shortage of digital marketers.
APSCo member, EMR managing director Simon Bassett, believes: “There is a misplaced belief that younger people are better placed to use the new [digital marketing] tools on offer – but that’s simply not an accurate picture.
“In many cases, older professionals are the ones who work hardest to maximise the potential of technological innovations, using their knowledge and experience to greater effect than younger professionals.”
This suggests that contractors with existing digital marketing skills, or who are able to rapidly retrain, have a potentially target rich environment for new clients and contracts.