REC: Jobs Outlook - August 2022
Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Employer confidence continues to drop as short-term demand for temporary staff spikes
Confidence
In May-July 2022, business confidence in the UK economy fell by a further 5% from the previous rolling quarter to net: -55. At net: -60 in July, this makes 10 months of the barometer being in negative territory.
Employers’ confidence in making hiring and investment decisions also fell by 5% to net: -19. In July alone, sentiment was at net: -24, further falling into negative territory.
Permanent recruitment
Do you think the number of permanent workers in your organisation will increase or decrease in the next three months?
In May-July 2022, employers’ intentions to hire permanent staff in the short-term fell by 3% but remained buoyant at net: +20. Hiring intentions continued to remain stable across the UK. Regionally, sentiment was the highest in the Midlands and London (net: +24). When it comes to business size and structure, mid-sized (50-249 employee) organisations and private businesses were most optimistic about permanent hiring, at net: +22 and net: +21, respectively.
Temporary recruitment
Do you think the number of agency workers in your organisation will increase or decrease in the next three months?
In the three months to July, employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency workers in the short-term rose by 2% to net: +14. Most regions in the UK recorded increasing in sentiment. Notably, the Midlands rose from net: +20 to net: +32 and the North went from net: +5 to net: +9. Forecast demand also rose among small-sized (0-49 employee) enterprises from net: +20 to net: +27. However, demand further decline into negative territory for the public sector (net: -6).
Topical question
Almost one in two (47%) employers have not made any changes to their benefit packages to attract candidates.
The most popular incentives employers used were introducing flexible working (36%), offering personal development plan (22%), and introducing hybrid working (21%). On the other hand, less popular incentives included volunteer days (5%) and fridge benefits (11%).
JobsOutlook Topical Questions
PDF
Please find a collection of the latest topical questions from our JobsOutlook survey. The questions are a key source of insight and cover a range of current and past issues of interest for the REC and its members. If you are an REC member, you get an access to not only our monthly surveys, exclusive reports and analysis but also our Topical Questions archive for the last 5 years.
