Small businesses may need to re-think their rates if they want to attract highly-skilled talent, according to Badenoch & Clark.
The recruitment specialist has pointed out that firms are already competing for top talent and rates are the main weapon.
Badenoch & Clark’s sales director, David Fleming, said that more companies are now making counter offers and increasing hourly rates as the battle to secure talent heats up. This is likely to lead to wage inflation in the next few months.
There is a renewed optimism in the economy and employers are searching extremely hard to find the best people to recruit into their firms. As competition increases, demand is likely to follow suit. This should bode well for umbrella company contractors and employees looking for a change in the early months of 2011.
The January Report on jobs from the REC and KPMG showed that both permanent and temporary staff billings increased last month. January is always a busy month for recruitment as candidates consider their career options, but this January was particularly active as firms embracing the upturn looked to increase the size of their workforce.
Only 6% of employers expect to down-size their workforce in the coming months, whilst nearly 25% intend to hire additional workers. In the short-term, 86% of employers also plan to either maintain or increase the amount of agency staff they use.
Roger Tweedy from the REC said that this continued usage of temporary workers was extremely encouraging. Private sector employers seem to understand that agency staff provide a necessary flexibility while economic concerns continue.
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