UK recruiters reported a robust expansion in hiring activity in November, with both permanent placement and temp billing rising strongly, the latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs survey showed on Thursday.
Permanent placements rose at a sharper rate than in October, the fifth-quickest on record. Permanent job growth continued to outpace that seen for temp billings.
Although demand for staff continued to increase in November, the vacancy growth slipped to a six-month slow.
The downturn in candidate availability eased to its weakest since May. Nonetheless, the rate of decline remained substantial and among the quickest since data collection began in late 1997.
Further, low candidate numbers and efforts to attract and secure workers drove further steep increases in pay for both permanent joiners and temporary staff.
“It’s too early to tell what the effect of the Omicron variant might be on the labour market – December may be slower than previous months as its effects feed through,” Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said.