KPMG & REC Report on Jobs September 2024
The headline figures evidence:
- A steeper fall in permanent placements
- Permanent pay growth weakest in five months
- Candidate availability continues to climb
Yes, it's the August survey and that's traditionally a quiet month. However, the expectation for the autumn was an uptick in the recruitment market and that's being revised.
Whatever the outcome of the General Election (and a Labour win looked certain), what we didn't see coming was austerity.
There was a fabulous opportunity to create positivity and hope, the promise of policies to encourage growth opportunities and to attract investment to the UK. Instead, the priority in the first few weeks has been cancelling investment projects, enhancing employee rights to be potentially prohibitive to small businesses and failing to rule out greater taxation on businesses (and individuals who own businesses and plan to sell within the next 5 years).
As a result, organisations remain in a state of uncertainty and the recruitment marketplace will remain challenging.
With weeks of private and public speculation about the "tough decisions" the new government are making, the budget on 30th October can only be a relief, surely?
Anyway, I am adjusting my forecast of a buoyant Q4 2024 and kicking that positivity can, not down the road, but out of plain sight. Well into 2025 anyway ...
I'm always happy to be a source of help and advice, for free, whether it be around reviewing hiring processes or putting together a compelling offering to job seekers.
Contact us now for a free, no-obligation chat. Contact Clare here.
Clare Wight is the founder and Managing Director of Clarity Appointments, an independent recruitment specialist. She served as a Regional Director for The Employment Agents Movement, supporting other independent recruiters.
She remains an active member of Recconnect (formerly Members Only), a recruitment leadership network promoting high ethical standards, collaboration, diversity, equity and inclusion.
She believes business owners are more fulfilled and higher-performing when they provide emotional and professional business support to other business owners, even those they deem to be competitors. She does this actively, whilst challenging and updating her skills and knowledge of the recruitment sector, enabling her to offer the best advice to firms looking to make their next hire.
