A report on the UK labour market has shown the pool of candidates for employers to choose from is in steep decline.
Research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG also showed that salaries are rising at the fastest rate since 2007. There is also a significant shift from temporary roles being offered to permanent opportunities.
REC CEO Kevin Green said: “The number of candidates available to fill vacancies continues to fall and this is becoming a business critical issue in highly skilled roles. Recruiters are struggling to source the managerial and technical skills that employers require and this will only get worse as the economy strengthens.”
Richard Shea, managing director of EMEA search at Futurestep, told HR magazine the results show employers will need to work harder to attract top workers in the future.
“A lot of the top workers are either staying put or have been taken already. There is a definite shift to candidates having more choice in their job searches now. Innovation will be key for companies to attract the top talent going forward,” he said.
It’s not all bad news for employers. Shea claimed that although there may be fewer candidates in the future, they will be of a high standard.
“As competition increases, so does quality, especially in high-skilled areas such an engineering and technology. Companies will have to start paying more for the top candidates though as this will drive up salaries,” he said.
North England is one of the fastest growing areas for recruitment growth. This has been driven largely by technology and engineering companies. London, which has the slowest rate of increase, still showed a marked increase in recruitment activity.
SOURCE: HR MAGAZINE, March 2014
