Headlines

• Permanent placements and temp billings increase moderately

• Solid growth of permanent salaries but temp pay at 40-month low

• Slower decline in staff availability

There is further evidence that UK employers have shrugged off the initial shock of the referendum result. Overall, permanent hiring is in growth for the second consecutive month. Even more encouraging is the growth in vacancies; consumer confidence and strong demand on businesses has ensured that hirers are creating new jobs.

There remains a degree of caution in London, where permanent hiring has been on pause for the last five months. This is likely to be because of uncertainty around the longer-term impact of the referendum result within the financial sector in particular.

Permanent placements rise for second successive month…

September data showed a second straight monthly rise in permanent staff placement volumes, after the declines seen in June and July. Temporary/contract staff billings also rose, albeit at a slower pace compared with August’s three-month high. In both cases, rates of growth remained slight overall.

…supported by sharper increase in vacancies

Demand for staff continued to rise in September, with the pace of growth picking up to a three-month high. The strongest-performing category for permanent staff was Engineering.

Candidate availability falls, but at slower rate

The availability of staff to fill permanent roles continued to fall in September. Although remaining marked, the rate of decline eased to the slowest in almost three years. Similarly, temporary/contract staff availability deteriorated at a weaker pace.