A slight growth slowdown in recruitment

After high results last March, the latest Report on Jobs from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG has indicated a weaker level of growth in the number of jobs across the UK.

So, what explains these trends? This slower growth in the job market might be explained by the decreasing availability of candidates for permanent jobs, which reached numbers similar to November 2007. However market indications are showing a slight rise in the availability of candidates for contract jobs.
According to HR Magazine reports, we can also see a weakening in pay pressures for August 2010. Pay rises for short term contract jobs have slowed, whilst wages for permanent positions have risen at the slowest rate for seven months.

Bernard Brown from KPMG tells us "The UK job market slowdown continued in August with permanent job appointments rising at the weakest rate for 10 months.
A look at the sectors also reveals the growing disparity between the public and private sector," explaining the different trends shown by private sector seeing the demand grow and the public sector seeing a reduction in recruitment as well as a start in redundancies. Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, said in HR Magazine that the report highlighted existing and future recruitment opportunities in "specific shortage areas, such as chefs, nurses, engineers and internet developers."