Job vacancies at 15-year high

Job vacancies in the UK have increased by the fastest rate in 15 years.

A study by professional services firm KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) found jobs growth in November increased at the sharpest rate since July 1998.

Private sector demand continued to show better growth than public sector demand, the report added.

Salaries also had the strongest rate of growth in five years for permanent employees, with temporary/contract staff pay also rising at a “solid pace”.

The good news was that all sectors, all regions and both the public and private sectors were in growth, said REC chief executive Kevin Green.

“We enter the New Year with job vacancies increasing at the fastest pace in 15 years. The fact that our figures show starting salary growth hitting a six year high, combined with continued skill and talent shortages, indicates that we can expect salaries to increase and job fluidity to accelerate into 2014,” he said.

Bernard Brown, KPMG partner and head of business services, said the report showed businesses were more confident about the future but employees were “more focused on Christmas than careers”.

“As a result employers are trying to tempt top talent to change jobs by offering more in the way of cash or incentives. It’s a tactic that may bring short-term success, but the risk of falsely inflating the jobs market must be considered. Left unchecked, it could put unnecessary and unsustainable pressure on businesses just at the time their cash flow problems are easing,” he added.

Confidence

This comes as another report today showed business confidence had increased for 10 consecutive months.

Accountant and business adviser BDO predicted the UK’s economic recovery would gather pace in the first half of 2014.

BDO’s Optimism Index, which predicts business performance two quarters ahead, rose in November to a 43-month high.