12 January 2016

December data signalled a broad-based rise in demand for permanent staff, with the strongest growth signalled for IT and computing workers.

SOURCE: MARKIT

Permanent and temporary IT workers were in high demand during December with growth rates accelerating in both cases, according to the latest Report on Jobs published earlier this month.

The Report on Jobs is a monthly publication produced by Markit and sponsored by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG. 

It features a Job Vacancies Index that monitors the overall demand for staff at recruitment consultancies. The consultancies are asked to compare the demand for staff according to sector with the situation one month ago. 

An index reading above 50 signals a higher number of vacancies than the previous month, while below 50 signal a decline. 

The nine industry sectors monitored include: accounting/financial; blue collar; construction; engineering; executive/professional; hotel and catering;  IT and computing; nursing/medical/care; and secretarial/clerical. 

December data signalled a broad based rise in demand for permanent staff. Climbing to an eight-month high of 65.8 in December (64.3 in November), the seasonally adjusted index measuring demand for permanent IT professionals highlighted a sharp pace of expansion that was the strongest among the nine monitored sectors. 

The index measuring demand for all types of permanent staff recorded 62.3. IT and computing came in just ahead of the executive/professional (65.6) and accounting/financial (65.2) sectors.

Temporary/contract staff in IT dropped a place in the rankings compared to 2014, but vacancies are rising.

SOURCE: MARKIT

KPMG says growth of temp IT vacancies also accelerated the quickest since April. The respective index rose to 61.0 in December from 60.5 in the prior month. 

Demand for temp IT staff improved at a stronger pace than that for all types of workers (59.4). By sub-sector, IT ranked fifth in the league table showing demand for temp staff.

Heath Jackson, partner in the CIO advisory practice at KPMG, says companies are investing heavily in their cyber security teams in the wake of several high profile breaches, and demand for IT specialists surged in December. 

“This hiring boom has caused a skills shortage in the sector, with recruiters struggling to find enough candidates qualified in IT security to satisfy demand,” says Jackson.  

“Faced with such stiff levels of competition businesses need to rethink their recruitment strategy.  As well as hiring talent to build-up their in house defence capability, they need to upskill the staff they have, or risk losing them to a competitor more willing to make an investment in their careers.”

*Non-seasonally adjusted data. Prior to April 2013 Engineering/Construction was reported as a single category.