Permanent placements fell for the second month in a row, while temporary billings expanded modestly, finds a new report.
Although a rise in contractor demand is generally expected in the lead-up to Christmas, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) believes that this could be a trend that continues into the new year.
The report also found that competition for scarce workers and the current cost-of-living crisis continued to push up both temp wages and starting salaries.
The REC and KPMG’s UK Report on Jobs revealed that during November, temp billings continued to rise sharply in the South of England, and expanded modestly in London, while further declines were reported in the Midlands and the North of England.
Looking at a regional analysis, the upturn in demand for contractors was broad-based across all ten employment categories, with the quickest rise in vacancies seen in Nursing/Medical/Care. IT/Computing slipped to the bottom of the rankings and saw only a marginal uptick.