In the three months to August, business confidence in their ability to hire new staff and make investment decisions remained high at net: +25, according to new Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) data. This remains a historically high rate of improvement, though the pace is lower than in the previous rolling quarter.
The REC’s latest JobsOutlook survey found that this confidence has boosted the number of employers looking for new permanent staff. Hiring intentions over the next three months rose by three percentage points to net: +25, while demand for the next 4-12 months also increased to net: +30. Demand for temporary staff is also high at net: +17 in the short term and net: +10 in the medium term – although it has slowed from the previous rolling quarter.
With demand for staff remaining high, the current labour shortages look set to continue for some time.
