Contractor demand reached its highest level in 27 months during June 2013, alongside a seven-month high in agency billings. Engineering came top in the demand league table, with its demand index increasing by over 10% month-on-month.
The latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG Report on Jobs had good news for all other core contracting disciplines, with sharp increases in demand for construction, IT, interim management and finance and accounting contractors.
“Roles in engineering and IT are in ever increasing demand as recruiters struggle to source the talent that businesses need to succeed,” notes REC chief executive Kevin Green. “However more roles, such as sales and digital marketing, have been added to this growing list in the last couple of months and show no signs of disappearing.”
Alongside engineering, construction was the star performer, with its growth index recovering from a negative position and eighth place during May 2013 to grow by an astonishing 17% to reach third place by the end of June, ahead of IT & computing in fourth place.
In contrast contractor demand in the financial sector remains sluggish, with only marginal growth experienced between May and June. Demand in the UK’s financial sector may start to improve, particularly in financial IT, suggests the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI)/PricewaterhouseCoopers Financial Services Survey.
A modest rise in contractor availability alongside a sharp increase in contracting rates, the fastest increase since March 2008, suggests that demand may be starting to outstrip supply. Recruitment agents highlighted that engineers in general, oil and gas contractors, marketing and PR contractors and various kinds of developers are in short supply.
Contractor demand in the public sector was flat during June, after a small rise in May, but permanent vacancies rose for the first time in six months. It is possible that, whilst the public sector’s appetite for contractors remains, factors such as the off-payroll rules are turning contractors away from public sector contracts.
“It’s often said that things happen ‘in threes’ and the latest jobs data has provided the hat-trick, complementing positive reports about the services sector and UK GDP,” says, partner and head of business services at KPMG, Bernard Brown. “Perhaps the sun has finally come out to shine on the jobs market and economy at large?”