Contractor vacancies in Scotland grew at the sharpest rate for 21 months and rates of pay increased at a pace not matched in six years, and much faster than the UK average. June 2013’s Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs also shows agency billings increasing, albeit at a slower pace compared to May.
The slight ease in agency billings, coupled with the sharp increase in demand and rates suggests that contractor demand in Scotland may be starting to outstrip supply, raising the possibility of future skills shortages.
“Both the number of people appointed to permanent and temporary jobs rose in the month accompanied by sharp rises in vacancies.Improvements in job market conditions were spread across all sectors,” highlights Bank of Scotland chief economist Donald MacRae.
Contractor demand increased across all core contracting sectors except for the interim management market, which fell into negative growth territory, reversing the slight increase in demand seen during the previous month.
IT and computing contractors experienced a 12-month high in demand, placing them second in the demand league table after nursing and medical care, and ahead of engineering and construction in fourth place.
In the wider UK contracting market, demand for engineering contractors is much greater than that for IT contractors. However, the data for Scotland includes construction, which has been separated out of the UK category, which could explain the disparity, particularly if Scotland’s construction sector remains subdued.
The UK’s video games capital, Dundee, experienced the fastest increase in temp billings, indicating that the gaming sector continues to perform strongly. Europe’s oil and gas capital Aberdeen saw the strongest deterioration of contractor availability, suggesting that the demand for oil and gas contractors continues to outstrip supply.
This positive picture for contractors in Scotland looks set to continue, with MacRae upbeat about contractor prospects for the rest of the year: “These results signal a further strengthening of the recovery in the Scottish economy and bode well for employment throughout 2013.”