| Job market slows further in January |
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| Wednesday, 06 February 2008 | |
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January’s Report on Jobs, from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, showed that the UK labour market continued to slow at the start of 2008.
Softer growth of demand for staff resulted in subdued rises in permanent placements and temp billings. Meanwhile, pay growth weakened further, in part reflecting easing skill shortages. Helen Reynolds, deputy chief executive of the REC said the report confirmed that whilst people were still recruiting, the rate of growth in demand for jobs continued to slow. “In such a delicate economic climate, now is not the time to start hampering job creation with new regulations on temporary work,” she added. Added bureaucracy A private members bill on temporary agency work is due to be debated in Parliament later in the month and has already attracted strong trade union support. The REC said that the bill would simply limit temping job opportunities through added bureaucracy. It called it vital to preserve the flexibility which temporary work has brought the UK economy at this pivotal time for our successful jobs market. Alan Nolan, director at KPMG, said that the rate of expansion continues to slow, but that January's data still showed growth in both permanent and temporary placements. He added that employers still remained optimistic, despite predictions of redundancies and the financial market gloom. Interest rate cuts The survey found that many companies were planning to take on an increased number of graduates this year. Different sectors carry on being affected in different ways. Whilst workers in the construction industry remain in demand, investment banks are seeing a reduction in graduate salaries in a bid to level out the playing field. "Employers will wait and see whether the uncertainty in the job and the financial markets will lead to further interest rate cuts,” Nolan concluded. Related articles
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