Recruitment activity falls sharply as COVID-19 pandemic hits the UK - KPMG / REC

According to the report from KPMG and REC, the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a detrimental impact on staff recruitment across the UK in March. The latest UK Report on Jobs survey signalled that permanent placements and temp billings both fell at the steepest rates since 2009 as firms cancelled or postponed plans to take on new staff. Great uncertainty over the outlook underpinned the first reduction in overall vacancies for over a decade. Weaker demand for staff also led to a softening of pay pressures, with both permanent and temporary pay rising at slower rates. The availability of staff continued to decline, but at the weakest rate since mid-2013 amid reports of increased redundancies. The report is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.

After rising in the prior three months, permanent staff placements declined sharply in March, with the rate of reduction the sharpest since February 2009.

Vacancy trends also deteriorated during March as the pandemic hit firms' appetite for staff. Demand for both permanent and temporary workers fell for the first time since the global financial crisis in 2009. Permanent staff vacancies fell at a quicker pace than temporary job openings, but rates of contraction were mild in both cases.