Member Article

Jobs data shows encouraging signs for the North

The number of people placed in permanent jobs by Northern recruitment consultants continued to rise.

Following the national picture revealed by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the data showed the North of England registered a slower rise in permanent appointments than in the Midlands and South of England.

February data on North of England job vacancies supported the findings on placements, with further rises in demand for both permanent and temporary staff, and in both cases growth rates increased.

Average starting salaries in the North were slightly down in February, following January’s marginal rise as recruitment consultants reported clients were attempting to keep costs down.

Hourly rates of pay increased modestly over the month owing to the effect of Agency Worker Regulations, and adding to a six month improvement of temporary pay.

Falls in permanent salaries in London and the North contrasted with modest rises recorded in the Midlands and South.

Keith Gallagher, Regional Director of REC in the North says: “There are some positive signs for the jobs market in the region – particularly the fact that we seen the seventh successive monthly increase in permanent staff appointments.

“However, this comes against a backdrop of public sector jobs haemorrhaging away month on month and recent cuts at high profile employers like BAE.

“The silver lining for those exiting BAE and other roles is that there is significant demand for highly skilled workers. Recruitment agencies in the region will be at the forefront of helping individuals back into work as soon as possible.

“With regards to the market for temporary staff, the overall number of placements has remained flat. However, agency work continues to provide an important outlet for employers and job-seekers and the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) have certainly not had the catastrophic affect that the ‘doomsayers’ were predicting back in October.

“Recruitment agencies in the region have taken on the implementation challenge and got on with business as usual.”

Mick Thompson, KPMG’s senior partner in the North East added that while wider economic conditions continued to put significant pressure on the Northern jobs market, permanent placement levels were encouraging.

He said: “This continued growth in February, alongside rising permanent and temporary vacancies, suggests that Northern corporates entered the year with renewed vigour and one eye on expansion.

“However, this perceived uplift in personnel should be viewed in the context of the wider economic recovery and, for many firms, is likely to have followed significant organisational rationalisation in previous low growth years.

“Sustainable growth rests largely on wider European fiscal stability, a story which will play out as the year unfolds.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .