Recruitment in UK continues to be hit by national lockdown

(Alliance News) - The ongoing national lockdown in the UK has continued to affect recruitment, ...

Alliance News 5 March, 2021 | 5:54AM
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(Alliance News) - The ongoing national lockdown in the UK has continued to affect recruitment, with fewer placements being made by recruiters, a new study suggests.

Permanent staff appointments fell for the second month running in February, while growth in temporary jobs eased to a seven-month low, said the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG.

Demand for staff was little-changed in February, having fallen at the start of the year, according to research among 400 recruiters.

There was only a small increase in the availability of workers despite pandemic-related redundancies, while there was a greater reluctance to seek new jobs because of lingering uncertainty over job security, said the report.

Starting salaries on offer fell, while wages for temporary jobs were stable, the survey indicated.

The biggest increases in jobs were in nursing, medical and care, while hotel and catering saw the sharpest drop in permanent vacancies, said the report.

James Stewart, of KPMG, said: "Business confidence remained subdued in February, with a further drop in permanent appointments and the lingering pandemic uncertainty still evident.

"The jobs market remains on hold with hiring decisions stalled, people reluctant to seek new roles and the growth in temporary billings has also slowed. However, it's encouraging that it's not seeing the big drop in vacancies or hiring that were seen in the first national lockdown.

"There's a long way to go to rebuild confidence in the UK jobs market."

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: "Given the national lockdown that has been in place for the past two months, the labour market has coped remarkably well.

"Permanent placements have only fallen modestly, while vacancies and candidate availability have stabilised."

By Alan Jones

source: PA

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