Temp billings growth accelerates to six-month high

Economic uncertainty has caused UK businesses to regularly opt for temporary hires over permanent placements, finds a new report.

The KPMG and Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) latest Report on Jobs has revealed that hiring trends were impacted during March with recruiters recording a marginal fall in permanent roles, while temp billings growth quickened to a six-month high.

The data, compiled by S&P Global, also found that rates of pay for temp workers also rose sharply.

Demand was sustained across the majority of employment categories monitored and was led by hotel & catering.

Claire Warnes, Partner, Skills and Productivity at KPMG UK, said, “March was a curate’s egg for the jobs market. Candidate availability improved for the first time in over two years as people regained the confidence to look for new roles, but economic uncertainty caused firms to make redundancies and often opt for temporary hires over permanent placements.

“This unease saw temporary billings rise at their quickest rate for six months and pay continue to increase in line with the cost of living.”

Neil Carberry, REC Chief Executive, added, “Over the past few weeks, we have seen a bit more confidence among employers, and this is reflected in this latest data. While the temporary market is still growing month-on-month, the permanent market contraction has eased significantly in March.

“After six months of slowing activity from last summer’s peak, the market is now better described as flat than declining. This is the mark of an economy performing better than was expected at the end of last year and means it is still a good time to be looking for work, with hospitality, healthcare, accountancy and financial roles all powering ahead.

“The big news is that candidate availability is up for the first time in more than two years. This suggests that, while the market is still tight, it should be getting gradually easier for firms to hire over the next few months. The continuing fast rate of pay growth is likely reflective of the impact of inflation on wage offers, as well as low labour supply. That means increasing pay is likely to persist, despite more people beginning to look for work.”

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