Private sector drives greater demand for permanent jobs
DEMAND for permanent staff is accelerating faster than the growth in temporary jobs, research showed today.
The number of permanent roles in the UK expanded at the second fastest rate in the last six months in April, the KPMG report on jobs found.
“In many areas of the private sector employers feel confident to hire again on a full time basis, though the picture is very different in the public sector,” said KPMG’s Bernard Brown.
The four-month low in temporary jobs growth was partly attributed to “tighter public sector budgets,” as well as caution over the impending Agency Workers Regulations.
“Private sector businesses with a dependency on the public sector are clearly on a knife edge, as they wait to understand how the unfolding government policy will impact them,” Brown added.
Despite the government’s austerity plan, pay pressures jumped to a nine-month high last month, the report found – a movement that could concern the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee if it feeds through to official data.
The report’s index of permanent salaries jumped to a reading of 56.1, from 55.3 in March and 53.7 in February.