The latest data shows Yorkshire & Humber as the fastest growing UK region in February.
Rate of job creation hits survey record and permanent and temporary salary rates continue to increase as candidate availability decreases causing a worker shortage that businesses and organisations are struggling to overcome.
Commenting on the survey results, Ian Beaumount, office senior partner at KPMG UK, said: “There’s no end in sight to the deep-seated workforce challenges facing our economy. Once again this month, job vacancies are increasing while there are simply not enough candidates in all sectors to fill them.
“With fewer EU workers, the ongoing effects of the pandemic, the economic impacts of the war in Ukraine and cost of living pressures, many employers will continue to struggle to hire the talent and access the skills they need. With unemployment staying low, there are many great opportunities for job-seekers to join or re-join the workforce in all sectors.”
Job vacancies and staff appointments
Data from Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported a record 1.3million jobs vacancies are currently unfilled and these numbers show no signs of slowing down. Recent data indicates permanent and temporary job vacancies continue to rise albeit at slower rate than recent months.
Although the data showed an increase in permanent and temporary staff appointments during March, the rate of increase was the slowest in over a year as poor candidate availability impacts businesses and organisations ability to fill roles.
Staff availability
Permanent candidate availability continues to see a sharp decline following a trend which started in February 2021. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a strong reluctance from candidates to leave their current roles as well as a skills mismatch across the jobs market.
It is a similar story with temporary availability which continues to see numbers fall in line which began in March 2021. The lack of available high-quality candidates is one of the key factors at play.
Demand for skills
Almost all sectors currently have some level of demand for skills however the skills in noticeably short supply across both permanent and temporary staff include accounting and financial, drivers (FLT and HGV), engineers, IT developers, administrators and receptionists, customer service and sales.
Pay pressures
Temporary wages are currently rising at the fastest rate in the last four months and permanent salary rates are close to the February record.
This is a clear indication that we are currently in a candidate led market as businesses and organisations pay more to attract in demand highly skilled workers
The rate of salary inflation is the fast of the four monitored English regions by a considerable margin. It is also important to note that inflation is not just limited to salaries as both households and businesses feel the brunt with the highest levels seen in three decades.
The British Chamber of Commerce’s (BBC) Economic Survey for Q1 shows inflationary pressures on firms reaching levels never previously recorded in its 33-year history.
Stafflex perspective
In terms of dealing with the current skills shortages, employers need to be more realistic about how high they are setting the bar when hiring.
Ideally they need to be prepared to recruit someone with a lower skillset and look to invest in the training necessary to upskill them so they are capable of carrying out the role.
The benefits of this approach are that upskilling is a cheaper option when compared with bringing in someone with experience and that person will have increased loyalty as they have been given the opportunity to learn new skills and progress up the career ladder.
Do you have any questions?
Please contact Nemi Alexis on 01484 351010 or at nemi@stafflex.co.uk.