According to the most recent data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) and Bullhorn, there were fewer open positions between October and November.
Permanent postings have decreased by 4% month over month, while contractor placements have remained steady.
The monthly vacancy figures matched the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) data in terms of scope.
While there have been fewer openings in the latter months of 2022, pre-Covid comparisons indicated a growth in jobs and placements in November, demonstrating the UK’s ongoing severe skills deficit.
According to the data, there were 46% more permanent openings between November 2019 and November 2022. The number of contract openings increased by 16% during the same period. Despite the country’s economic woes, the pre-Covid comparison shows that the UK is still experiencing a tight labor market that has not yet stabilized since the pandemic.
According to APSCo, as more placements are made, the talent pools that are accessible across the UK are continuing to shrink. This is a further indication that the UK is approaching a recession where worker shortages remain a problem, a situation that hasn’t occurred in previous downturns.
The recruiting market is slowing, which is to be expected after the highs seen in the first half of the year, according to Ann Swain, global CEO of APSCo. This does not imply, however, that the market is shrinking as recession concerns rise. In reality, pre-Covid comparisons reveal that recruitment activity is still far above levels from before the epidemic.
This shows that despite the economic recession, the UK continues to experience a shortage of competent resources. This situation will increase the pressure on the staffing industry to locate the talent that customers are in dire need of, as well as on employers to make sure they establish the ideal conditions and provide the proper compensation to both attract and keep these resources.
“Jobs seem to have been quite steady following the reasonably flat trend over the last six months,” noted Joseph Buckley, Manager, of Business Analytics, Bullhorn.
As the year draws to a close, permanent placements seem to be continuing their progressive decline; this is consistent with ratios we’ve observed internally, as conversion rates have steadily declined since their peak earlier in the year.
Tania Bowers, global public policy director for the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, and SIA also spoke on the most recent information on contract and permanent job openings (APSCo).
In the interview, Bowers elaborates on the causes of the end-of-year slowdown and talks about what the staffing sector can do to help discover talent in the face of a competitive labor market.
