Firms are struggling to fill roles

FIRMS continue to struggle to recruit workers amid an increasing demand for staff, new research shows.

Increased competition for scarce employees is affecting pay, with starting salaries for permanent and temporary workers “substantially” rising, say recruiters. A survey of 400 recruitment agencies showed that hiring activity continued to surge at a “robust” pace in April.

KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said its study suggested that the availability of candidates fell for the 14th month in a row in April. Fewer foreign workers and hesitancy to seek new roles due to the pandemic and economic uncertainty were mentioned by some of those surveyed. Demand for staff was especially strong in the hotel,catering and engineering sectors.