Contractor demand on the rise

Hiring has been put firmly back on the agenda for UK businesses, however, skills shortages are increasingly becoming an issue.

This is according to the latest Recruitment Trends Snapshot report from The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), using data from cube19.

The figures show that the professional recruitment sector has seen big increases in both month-on-month and year-on-year vacancies for the fourth consecutive month.

The data revealed a 14% month-on-month uptick in contract roles with permanent vacancies up 10%. Looking at year-on-year data, it continued to show huge spikes with rises of 90% and 72% respectively.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, commented, “The recovery trend is clearly continuing – and it is apparent that the recruitment sector has a major part to play in that recovery as proved by some of the financial results we are seeing from our larger members.

Swain added, “Page Group has recently reported increased gross profit per fee earner in Q2 this year compared with the same periods in both 2019 (up 2%) and 2020 (up 94%), while Robert Walters’ latest trading update saw a 31% increase in gross profit compared to the same period in 2020. There is also the question of ongoing skills shortages – in fact just last month some of the UK’s biggest tech companies urged the government to take action to address a shortage in digital skills which could hold back the post pandemic recovery. This all points to a very busy time ahead for the professional recruitment sector!”

Joe McGuire, Chief Revenue Office at cube19, said, “June represented impressive double-digit growth in almost every area which is exciting for the industry. However, agencies, like their clients, are finding it challenging to hire and onboard talent quick enough to keep up with demand. This is leading to a rapid upward trend of leaders looking to harness the true value of their own data to improve the efficiency of their recruiters.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.