Demand for professional talent up by 20% as job market returns to pre-crisis growth

According to new survey data from APSCo, the UK’s professional staffing trade body, recruitment firms now have 20% more vacancies on their books than this time last year. Its latest research, independently validated by Staffing Industry Analysts, comes as the Treasury’s growth forecast for the UK economy continues to climb month-on-month, with forecasted GDP growth now standing at 3.1% for 2014, up from 1.8% at the beginning of the year.

Permanent vacancies across the engineering, IT, accounting & finance, social work and media & marketing sectors are all up year-on-year, with the former three demonstrating the most impressive jobs growth (35%, 22% and 18% respectively).

Furthermore, professional temporary and contract vacancies are also exhibiting strong growth as both are up by 8%.

Contrary to APSCo’s findings, specialist recruitment company, Cast UK, reported a staggering 45% increase in interim roles within the last 12 months.

Wayne Brophy, managing director of Cast UK, explains why he thinks interim roles are on the up:

“The report by APSCo does reinforce the same growth trend we are seeing in permanent vacancies, however, we are experiencing a much steeper increase in interim work as it’s a way of accessing experienced, specialist talent with a proven track record, who can come into a business and hit the ground running.

“Both employers and employees benefit from this type of role as interim work either helps to bridge a short-term employment gap, or is an efficient way of managing growth and enhancing an organisation’s talent pool, particularly during a period of transition.”