Demand for contractors dropped in July according to the latest Report on jobs from the REC. This fall is mainly attributed to public sector cuts.
Last month demand for IT contractors dropped by 0.4 to 56.5 but this is still a marked increase on July 2009’s figure of 46.2. Kevin Green, the chief executive of the REC, said that public sector organisations must not make knee-jerk staffing cuts as these will undermine the delivery of key frontline services and threaten the jobs market recovery.
Mr Green also urged the government to prioritise private sector job creation in order to counteract the 600,000 public sector job losses which will take place over the next 12 months.
The drop in demand has meant there are now more contractors who are competing for fewer contracts, a scenario that we have been living with for the last 27 consecutive months.
However, IT candidates with skills in .NET, SAP, Ped, Business Analysis and IT Security are still in high demand as employers complain they struggle to find people with the right skillsets.
The sector showing the highest demand for both permanent and temporary staff is Engineering and Construction whilst the demand for nursing and medical care staff has dropped dramatically.
Other highlights from the report show that the number of people available for permanent work dropped in July but the number of temporary staff looking for placements increased marginally. Meanwhile, salaries for permanent staff grew at the fastest rate for nearly two and a half years and temporary rates increased slightly..
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