Job vacancies remained unchanged in August following a 13.9 percent spike in July, with concerns raised over a hung parliament influencing recruitment intentions amongst employers.
Underlying the stagnation in employment data from IPA Recruitment is a number of positive and negative forces, according to Tricia Phillips, CEO of IPA Recruitment.
“On the upside, we’re seeing a continued demand in HR, professional services, utilities and government industries,” said Mrs Phillips. “The healthy state of mining is translating into a significant recruitment drive there. In terms of current roles on offer, there is a steady stream of HR, admin support and blue collar roles available.”
“On the downside, retail and consumer sector hiring has stalled,” said Phillips. “Companies are doing little more than replace staff attrition. Hiring will pick up as we move closer to Christmas, when there is an increased demand for temporary staff.”
It is too soon to say whether the election result will affect employer demand, according to Phillips. “Prior to the election, there was little concern from employers about the result given the convergence of the parties’ policies. But with the hung parliament result, we will be watching closely to see whether employers are ‘spooked’ by a more uncertain outlook that minority government may bring.”
The supply of quality candidates has dropped in recent times, according to Phillips. “A fall in candidate numbers reflects a slight nervousness about economic conditions from employees in recent months. Uncertainty tends to result in people opting to stay in their current role.”
Many employers remain frustrated at the mismatch in the skills they need and what is on offer, Phillips believes. “The population continues to age and the baby boomers are beginning to enter retirement. At the same time youth unemployment continues to rise and is now at the highest level in nine years. These two factors are squeezing both ends of the skilled workforce market. We need to face reality that within the next six to 12 months we will see many businesses struggle to find suitably skilled staff,” Phillips concluded.
