Contractor demand softened for the second consecutive month during April 2013, with agency billings falling for the first time in nine months. However, contractor vacancies still rose, albeit at the slowest pace for nine months, and demand for engineering and IT contractors remained strong during the month, particularly in the North of England and Midlands.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG Report on Jobs also shows that contractor demand in the public sector fell during April, reversing the growth in public sector contractor use experienced during March.
“Recruiters are reporting a renewed sense of purpose from their clients, with employers making hiring decisions more quickly than before,” notes REC chief executive Kevin Green. “Highly skilled jobs like engineering and IT are still big growth areas.”
Green is also upbeat about contractor prospects: “All the feedback from recruiters is that employers intend to continue to increase their use of flexible staffing in the months ahead,” he says.
In contrast, KPMG partner and head of business services Bernard Brown is less upbeat: “These positive signs should not be taken as a signal that we are reaching the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow,” warns Brown. “The data suggests that optimism is lower when temporary roles are considered and there are also still too many inconsistencies across the UK to hint at recovery.”
A further negative is the sharp fall in construction contractor demand, the only core contracting discipline to be in negative territory during April. And demand for interim management contractors only just made it into positive territory over the period.
Regional variations highlight a polarising of contractor demand, with growth in the North of England and the Midlands, at the expense of London and the South of England; the latter both registered declines in contractor demand.
The modest rise in contractor availability together with the sustained demand and decline in agency billings confirms other reports there is an emerging skills mismatch, with not enough contractors with the right skills to fill available contracts.
Recruiters highlighted general IT, SAP and solutions architects, and general engineering as areas where they are experiencing difficulty in finding enough suitable candidates to complete assignments.