We’ve put together a brief overview of the latest jobs/recruitment news and economic outlook across Yorkshire from credible industry reports and news outlets so that you don’t have to – saving you valuable time, just like the benefit of using our recruitment services!
Summary
- Quickest drop in permanent staff appointments for ten months
- Notable upticks in availability of permanent and temp workers
- Business activity on the rise
- Inflation falls to lowest level in almost three years
- New government – and how they can tackle skills shortages
Placements
Recruitment agencies reported a sharp drop in the number permanent placements. Evidence linked the decrease to hiring hesitancy, which was commonly attributed to the recent general election.
Number of temp billings is up for a second month in a row in June, marking the second increase in successive months. Moreover, growth in temp billings was the quickest for 15 months with businesses opting to rely on temporary staff amid hesitancy to commit to permanent contracts.
Staff Availability
The availability of candidates to fill roles continued to increase in June with agencies reporting that the latest increase in the supply of staff reflected a combination of redundancies, slow decision-making amongst clients and a lower number of job openings.
Demand for Skills
Accounting and financial roles as well as blue collar roles such as fabricators and welders were identified as the skills in short supply for permanent staff. It is a similar story for temporary staff with the addition of HR professionals and IT/computing skills in high demand.
Business Activity
Malcolm Buchanan, Chair of the NatWest North Regional Board commented "The latest data for the Yorkshire & Humber region make for encouraging reading, with local firms seeing renewed increases in output, new orders and employment during the month.”
“The hope will be that the recent soft patch is behind us and that growth can start to solidify and speed up over the coming months. One other development of note was that selling prices increased at the slowest pace in approaching four years, potentially providing a further boost to demand conditions."
Inflation falls to lowest level in almost three years
Inflation hit the Bank of England's target for the first time in almost three years. Prices rose at 2% in the year to May, down from 2.3% the month before, official figures show.
The drop in May's inflation figure was driven by a slight fall in prices for food and soft drinks, and slower price rises for recreation and culture and furniture and household goods.
Moving forward, financial markets have currently priced in a roughly 60% chance that the Bank of England will cut rates in August for the first time since 2020. However, Jonathan Haskel, a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which sets the UK's main interest rate, said he "would rather hold rates" at 5.25% until there is more certainty that inflation pressures had "subsided sustainably".
New Government
The new labour government has pledged to leaders of some of the UK’s pioneering industries to build growth on strong and secure foundations built on stability, investment and reform, forged through a new partnership with the private sector.
REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry, said: “Recruiters report companies delayed some permanent hiring decisions during the election campaign. Now a new government has been elected, recruitment firms are looking for that investment to be unlocked.”
“The return of temporary worker demand to positive territory, driven particularly by the North, is a sign that the gentle improvement of the last few months in the UK is still with us despite the political noise.”
The growth in temp billings was the quickest for 15 months, after all. As policy uncertainty abates, and interest rates drop, we expect permanent hirers to return to the market this summer.
“The incoming government has been clear that growth and prosperity will be their core goal. But only business can deliver this for them – a partnership is necessary.”
In terms of tackling the on-going labour and skills shortages, it will be difficult for the government to make any meaningful short term impact but perhaps it is time for employers to modify the requirements they set, recruit lower skilled and more younger/older people who want to work but be fully prepared to train or re-train them.
References: