Job vacancies back to 2007 high, says bank report

A new report by the Bank of Scotland claims that job vacancies have returned to 2007 levels. Picture: PA

Vacancies for permanent staff are at their highest level in six years and temporary vacancy numbers are at a nine-year high, the bank’s latest report on jobs said.

Permanent salaries continued to rise faster than the UK as a whole last month. Temporary salaries had been rising at the start of the year but fell back slightly in recent months.

The overall health of the job market, as measured by Bank of Scotland’s labour market barometer, saw “a marked improvement” in October.

The bank assesses the health of the jobs market on a “barometer” ranging from one to 100, with the middle point representing no change, above 50 is positive and below is negative.

Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, said: “October’s labour market barometer rose to its joint-highest level in over six years, taking the index back to pre-recession levels.

“Demand for staff rose at a marked pace across all sectors while the number of people appointed to jobs rose sharply in the month. Salaries for permanent jobs increased at a strong pace. The recovery in the Scottish economy is showing through in growing employment and rising pay.”

The report states: “The Bank of Scotland labour market barometer rose to its joint-highest level in over six years during October. At 60.9, up from 60.0 in September, the barometer indicated a marked improvement in Scottish job market conditions, which remained stronger than the UK average.”

Demand for permanent staff in October was at 63.1, the highest barometer reading since mid-2007, while demand for temporary staff was measured at 64.2, the highest since mid-2004.

Dundee-based recruiters reported the strongest increase in permanent staff placements in October, while recruitment agencies in Glasgow recorded the fastest rise in the number of temporary jobs being filled.

The sharpest deteriorations in the availability of permanent and temporary workers were recorded in Glasgow and Aberdeen respectively.

The biggest rise in permanent salaries was recorded in Glasgow, while the fastest increase in hourly pay for temporary staff was in Aberdeen.

The number of permanent appointments made by recruiters rose at an accelerated pace in October, with the rate of growth just shy of the record rates of July and August.

Demand for permanent staff increased in all eight sectors of the economy in October, led by IT and computing. Rates of growth accelerated in all except engineering and construction.

All sectors posted a larger number of temp vacancies in October, the first universal rise since June last year. The nursing, medical and care sector saw the strongest rate of vacancy growth, the fastest since data collection began in January 2003.