REC - Jobs Outlook - June 2022
Thursday, 30 June 2022
Economic uncertainty continues as intentions to hire temporary staff decline
Confidence
In March-May 2022, business confidence in the UK economy fell by 12 percentage points from the previous rolling quarter to net: -39. This was driven by a decline in the sentiment in both April and May (net: -46 and net: -44 respectively).
Employers’ confidence in making hiring and investment decisions fell by four percentage points, to net: -7. This is the fourth consecutive rolling quarter where the sentiment declined and the second that it was in 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 March-May 2022, employers’ intentions to hire permanent staff in the short-term remained buoyant at net: +24. Hiring intentions remained stable across the UK. Regionally, sentiment was the highest in London (net: +31), followed closely by the Midlands (net: +28). 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: +28 and net: +25, 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 May, employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency workers in the short-term decreased by three percentage points to net: +9. Regionally, there were stark differences in hiring intentions between the Midlands (net: +16) and the North (net: 0). Forecast demand remained high among mid-sized (50-249 employee) enterprises and large (250+ employee) organisations, at net: +10. However, demand remained slightly lower in the public sector at net: +7.
Topical question
Almost half of employers (46%) have restructured pay grades to reflect the NLW increases.
For almost two in five employers (37%) the rise in the NLW has no impact on their business, while just as many (36%) are increasing the prices of products and services. More than one in six (18%) of employers have also seen an increase in the productivity of their existing workforce, whilst a further 18% have increased the use of technology and automation tools.
Only a small proportion of employers saw the NLW increase negatively affect their staff, for example by reducing their hours (8%), freezing hiring activity (5%), or making redundancies (3%).
