Contractor recruiters in Scotland reported a higher number of contract vacancies in May 2013, with IT, engineering and construction roles increasing strongly during the month, outperformed only by demand for nursing/medical/care workers.
“The number of people placed into both permanent and temporary jobs rose in the month while vacancies increased across most sectors,” notes Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, which produces the monthly Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs.
“These results provide further evidence that business confidence is slowly being restored, enabling the Scottish economy to record much sought-after growth during 2013,” he adds.
However, the news isn’t universally good for all contractors: the May 2013 report shows that accounts and financial contractors experienced yet another month where demand for their services was in negative territory. The report said it was the “strongest decline since last November”.
As this was mirrored by falling demand for permanent accounting and financial workers, it suggests that Scotland’s financial sector is experiencing a downturn.
This may result in an exodus of financial sector, and financial IT, contractors to London and the South East of England, where the latest Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor shows a sharp upturn in demand for contractors across multiple disciplines.
The executive and professional category, into which interim management contractors fit, was just back into positive growth territory, for the first time since January 2013, reversing a three-month run of falling demand.
Contractor agency billings and vacancy growth rose during May, alongside increased rates and a slight fall in contractor availability. All of these factors indicate that, at least for now, there is a ready supply of suitably qualified contractors in Scotland available to meet local demand.
However, pockets of skills shortages may start to emerge, as for example the UK’s video games capital Dundee saw both the fastest rate of contractor agency billings alongside the greatest deterioration of contractor availability in the country.