The Reports on Job is a monthly publication sponsored by the REC and KPMG LLP. The report started 11 years ago and analyses recruitment, employment, staff availability and earning trends.

Staff Appointments

Recruitment agencies were asked to report on the number of permanent jobs filled each month and the amount billed from placing temporary or contract positions.

To understand the index, 50 represent no change, above that shows growth, below that a decline. The March index shows that Permanent recruitment is at 38.4 and Temporary recruitment is at 40.6.

The fact that both have declined further is no surprise, however if there is a positive to be taken from the figures is that it has been its weakest decline in 6 months for both Perms and Temps, meaning the market might be levelling out.

Vacancies

This part of the report asks recruitment agencies if the demand for staff has changed.

Again using the same index scale, Permanent staff vacancies was indexed at 29.7 and for Temporary vacancies indexed at 34.7.

Although again this shows a decline in vacancies in March, Permanent vacancies was up from February’s record low 27.6 and the highest it has been in 4 months and Temps was also at it’s highest in 4 months.

Demand for Staff by Sector

Recruitment agencies were asked to compare their demand for staff in different sectors.

For both Perms and Temps the only sector that showed growth was Nursing/ Medical/ Care. This sector was indexed at 56.4 for Perms and 52.4 for Temps. All other sectors showed that demand had fallen.

Not much of a surprise here, in fact the demand for staff in Nursing/ Medical/ Care slightly rose from March 2008.

Staff Availability

Recruitment agencies were asked to report on the amount of available Job seekers they have compared to previous months.

This is no surprise, Permanent available staff was indexed at 80.4 and Temporary available staff was indexed at 83.5.

This represents massive growth in job seekers and of course with unemployment rising, these figures are expected to continue to show growth.

Pay Pressures

This part of the report tracks average salaries of Permanent placements and average hourly rates for Temporary and Contract placements.

Permanent salaries was indexed at 39.7 and Temporary salaries was indexed at 39.4.

These indexes represent or are close to their lowest levels, implying that job seekers that are getting work are prepared to take a pay cut to be in work.

These are the main findings from the report and of course can be taken with mixed views. There is obviously a decline in the job market in general and the amount of job seekers has increased dramatically. If there is a positive to be taken from this is that the rate of deterioration has been reduced.

Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC, says

“These figures are an improvement on the last six months. They indicate the pace of deterioration in the jobs market is easing and this rings true with what recruitment businesses are seeing on the ground. However, we anticipate that we have not yet reached the bottom. With unemployment still set to increase over the coming months, we are calling on the government to ensure that this month’s budget is focused on retaining and creating jobs. To this end, we are writing to the Chancellor today with our five point plan to jump start the jobs market.”