May 24, 2021
Jul 11, 2023
CFO Network

Boom for the Labour Market.....with a strong word of warning

May 24, 2021
Jul 11, 2023

Boom for the Labour Market.....with a strong word of warning

The vast majority of the recruitment sector has been working in a buoyant market in 2021. The REC and KPMG Report on Jobs published last week, showed that April saw the largest acceleration in demand for new workers since 1997. This was for permanent &  interim staff, across the south & the north and across nine of the ten main job categories (retail being the only marginal decline).

This is all excellent news, but does quickly lead to the question of how can the supply of workers meet the increased levels of demand? The national media have certainly picked up on this over the past week, some of the more interesting facts that have been reported;

  • McDonalds is boosting wages as they struggle to attract enough workers to keep their restaurants operational
  • Pub chains are relaxing their past qualification requirements
  • Retail and leisure sectors increasing referral schemes to offer a “bounty” for people successfully introducing friends to the workforce – now on offer to current employees and customers

Away from the retail and leisure sectors, demand is also rising. The Reed job board saw its largest single day of new jobs last week (18,000) and reported that this represented a spike across all disciplines and sectors.

Accountancy & Finance departments faced a shortfall in supply of talent before the pandemic and this has stretched further this year. We publish our salary survey tomorrow, which will feature a traffic light report on the availability of finance staff. Of the 31 categories of role within finance that we assessed, 12 are in short supply of candidates, 12 have reasonable supply and only 7 have a strong supply.

The answer for governments is complicated and long-term. Almost every employer needs a short-term plan to compliment their longer-term strategy. Review and modification of recruitment, reward and retention strategies should feature highly on the objectives of most boards and management teams. With the market forces and available solutions evolving at such a pace, workforce planning is challenging right now. The consequences of getting it wrong can be even more disastrous for employers right now. Planning thoroughly and in the context of the current market, will give many a competitive edge.

Nik Pratap
Lorraine Pratap
Elise Walsh
Gillian McBride
Nicola Worrow
Joe Ingham
Amanda O’Neill
Karen Caswell
Dale Spink
Charlotte Morgan-Smith
Gemma Hutchinson
Jess Lister
Alex Mostyn-Jones
Alex Mostyn-Jones
Claire Screeton
Claire Screeton
Euan Begbie
Euan Begbie
Marie Carroll
Marie Carroll
Lucy Miles
Nicola Beach

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