Contractor demand in the core contracting disciplines of IT and engineering continued to grow right up to the end of 2011, according to December’s KPMG/Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Report on Jobs and the Monster Employment Index (MEI) UK.
Despite a marginal drop in temporary billings, the first since July 2009, the Report on Jobs showed that demand growth for contractors and temps slowed in December, but was still in positive territory. Demand for engineering and construction contractors was in second place, after nursing and medical care, and IT & computing was in fifth place, with both bucking the overall trend.
REC Chief Executive Kevin Green is upbeat about the results: “While the jobs market is tough it remains resilient and is functioning well. Employers are still hiring and using temps in large numbers. The sector analysis shows that some sectors remain strong, namely engineering, technology [and] IT.”
The Monster Employment Index shows that the UK’s online recruitment market is still growing, as Monster UK & Ireland spokesperson Michael Gentle explains: “The recruitment market is still active, with the Employment Index reaching its highest level since June and many sectors, including engineering and IT, showing a more positive picture than this time last year.”
According to December’s MEI, online demand for engineers increased by 28% year on year, closely followed by online demand in the construction and extraction sectors, which grew by 24% year on year. Annual growth in IT was a more modest 17% and the sector saw no growth between November and December 2011.
The ongoing demand for IT and engineering contractors is resulting in skills shortages. The Report on Jobs highlights several engineering/construction and IT/computing sectors with key temp skills in short supply. These include design engineering and a number of IT developer skills.
“The latest data suggests that, in the key industries of engineering, construction and IT, attempts to fill the gaps that do exist remain unsuccessful,” adds KPMG Partner and Head of Business Services Bernard Brown.