IT Jobs Report May

With the cost of living still a high priority for many in the UK, recent 9.8% rise in National Living Wage will certainly help. But for the IT industry, it’s a case of waiting for further confidence in the wider economy before stepping up hiring.

According to Jon Holt, Chief Executive and Senior Partner of KPMG, prolonged weak demand  is driving the steady decline in permanent staff appointments month on month:

“Business leaders see this cooling, combined with weakening inflationary pressure, as indicators for the Bank to hopefully shift to a more dovish position. Companies would then have the confidence and certainty to press go on their investment strategies.” 

Latest data suggests that fewer recruitment firms are reporting a drop in demand as the pace of decline in permanent hiring has been the slowest in ten months. Furthermore, temporary hiring, which has had less decline has also been more buoyant than last month.

Tech firms continue to tell us that they will be more willing to hire and invest in their business when confidence returns to the wider economy – and with lower inflation and the prospect of lower interest rates starting, that drive may be soon enough.

With wage rises attracting people to work alongside low unemployment, businesses and government alike will need new approaches to developing and engaging their labour force.

The main findings for April are:

Slower falls in permanent and temporary staff appointments

There was a further fall in the number of permanent staff appointments made by UK recruitment consultants during April. Placements have now fallen in each month since October 2022, although the rate of decline in April was noticeably slower, easing to its weakest since June 2023. Temp billings also fell at a softer rate (the weakest in three months). Panellists noted continued hesitancy amongst companies in recruiting extra staff plus a lack of suitable candidates.

Pay rates improve in April

Pay rates picked up during April as firms remained willing to raise wages to attract suitable candidates. Latest data signalled that pay has now increased for both permanent and temporary staff for 38 months in a row. For permanent workers, the rate of growth accelerated to its highest in the year-to-date, though remained below its historical survey trend. Temporary staff saw their pay rates rise at the steepest pace since June 2023 and to a degree that was slightly above average.

Slower falls in staff demand

April’s survey data showed that overall demand for staff continued to fall, extending the current downturn to six months. That said, the rate of contraction was modest and the slowest since January. Temp staff demand was down only marginally and to a slower degree than for permanent workers. 

Fastest increase in staff availability since last November

Candidate availability continued to rise during April, with the rate of growth for all staff hitting its best for five months. Panellists noted a higher number of redundancies, whilst also signalling a general increase in the number of people looking for work. Rates of growth in candidate availability were similarly strong for both permanent and temporary staff.

IT Jobs in Demand

Cyber Security

Data Engineers

Data Scientists

DDaT

Developers

Full-stack Developer

IT

Software Architects

Software Engineers

Technical Roles

Technology

UX Developers

Automation Testers

Cyber Security

Linux

Software Design