13 January 2015

Professional recruitment firms now have +29% more vacancies on their books compared with the same time last year, according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

This increase in opportunities coincides with the latest research from the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM,) which has announced that 37% of workers are planning to leave their current jobs in 2015, a dramatic increase from 2014 (19%) and 2013 (13%).

Beneath this headline figure, the latest data from APSCo reveals that growth in the professional staffing market continues to climb across all of the trade association's core sector groups.

Permanent vacancies across Finance & Accounting, IT, Engineering, and Media & Marketing are all up year-on-year (by +16%, +31%, +53%, and +15% respectively). This positive sentiment is in line with recent figures released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which reported that half of British businesses are planning to expand their workforce in 2015.

The phenomenal growth of the Engineering sector over the past year can largely be attributed to government initiatives to improve infrastructure. Ongoing projects such as HS2 (High-Speed rail link) and Crossrail continue to drive an acute need for experienced talent to work in the sector.

Despite a slight slowdown in productivity last month, the latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) by data firm Markit/CIPS shows growth rates remain well above historical averages in this area, and the falling price of crude oil should further help boost trade and drive opportunities in Engineering.

APSCo's figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors were up by a respectable +3%, year-on-year. This overall growth is characterised by notable fluctuations in terms of sector, with Engineering, for example, recording an uplift of +8%. However both the Media & Marketing and Sales arenas have both stalled somewhat, reporting slight decreases year-on-year (by -0.3% and -1.9% respectively).

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