Job growth at two-year high in December

Wednesday 6th January 2010

The latest employment figures show there are more jobs and higher wages for permanent workers, but experts warn that talk of a full recovery is optimistic.

According to a report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG, the increase in both permanent and temporary staff placements in December 2009 was the fastest in over two years.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, told inthenews.co.uk: "There has been two years of massive decline and we've just had five or six months of the situation returning to normal. We are not seeing a big upturn, just a more normalised position with an economy that is not haemorrhaging as much as it was. We're not out the woods yet."

Using data collected from 400 recruitment agencies, the report showed a broad increase in demand for permanent and temporary workers.

Demand was strongest in the IT and computing sector, while vacancies for blue collar and secretarial work showed little improvement.

Wages for permanent staff also improved for the second month running, but hourly rates of pay for temporary employees fell for a 15th successive month.

Job totals have also been inflated by the increase in public sector jobs as the private sector collapsed in 2009. Economists now fear that the inevitable public sector cuts will stunt the faltering recovery.

Mr Brown added: "Shortly after any election you're going to see pressure to reduce public sector costs and that means cutting jobs, which make up a big proportion of costs.

"The public sector has added jobs throughout the recession, cushioning the sharp decline in private sector employment, but this trend could reverse in the case of an early retrenchment of public spending."

To secure the recovery, many experts believe that creating a skilled workforce by tackling Britain's high rate of youth unemployment is vital.

Kevin Green, chief executive of REC, said: "Despite the increase in demand for both temporary and permanent staff, the jobs market will remain extremely competitive, particularly for younger candidates.

"To avoid a lost generation of workers it is essential that the Government's pledge to invest over £1 billion to create 400,000 new youth job and training opportunities is met and that the private sector plays its part in getting younger candidates into work."

Related News

<< Back To News Listings

News Article Search