U.K. Job Recruiters See Strongest Wage Growth in 24 Years
U.K. wage growth rose at its strongest pace on record in a survey of job recruiters.
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U.K. wage growth rose at its strongest pace on record in a survey of job recruiters, indicating strains from a shortage of workers are persisting.
The findings from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG will add to inflationary pressures that are already ringing alarm bells at the Bank of England. They also indicates difficulty moving people off of furlough and into work following the pandemic, an issue the REC said government should address with more training programs.
Starting salaries for permanent workers rose at the strongest pace in 24 years of data collection in September, according to the REC survey released Friday. At the same time, the pool of available workers fell at near the sharpest rate on record.
“While higher salaries are good for job seekers, wage growth alone is unlikely to help sustain the economic recovery,” said Claire Warnes, head of education, skills and productivity at KPMG. “Many do not have the right skills to transfer to the sectors with most demand.”
The survey of 400 recruitment and employment consultants also showed:
- Rising wages were seen in a diverse range of roles from logistics and food processing to white collar professions
- Hiring activity rose sharply in September, slightly below the record rate in August
- Temporary staff billing fell to the lowest in five months to a level that remained historically strong
- Factors including “fewer EU workers and a lack of confidence among employees to switch roles due to the pandemic” all contributed to the decline in candidate numbers
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