The
second quarterly survey of employment intentions, to be published officially by
the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) later this month,
will show that a majority of employers plan to hire extra staff this summer.
Coming
ahead of official employment and pay figures due to be released on Wednesday,
the CIPD survey confirms that the economic recovery is gathering pace.
The
CIPD’s HR Trends and Indicators survey – involving almost 2,000 employers in
all sectors and regions of the UK – finds that:
–
More than 80 per cent of employers plan to recruit this summer (June-August)
–
As in the spring quarter, the vast majority of employers who are recruiting say
that at least some of the vacancies to be filled are for full-time staff, while
52 per cent are offering part-time employment. Temporary and fixed-term
contracts are being offered by around a third of all respondents – a higher
proportion than in the spring
–
40 per cent of respondents expect to be employing more staff by the summer of
2005 compared with just 17 per cent expecting to employ fewer
–
Almost six in 10 employers plan to recruit additional new staff this quarter
–
Recruitment intentions by region are highest in London (87 per cent of
employers) and the South East (85 per cent).
John
Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD and author of the report, said: "The
economic recovery is gathering pace, and the labour market is getting ever
tighter as more organisations look to recruit and fewer plan to make
redundancies.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
"Despite
this, there is still no sign of an imminent surge in wage pressure. But with
private sector recruitment increasing at a time of low unemployment, employers
will have to remain on their guard to ensure that wage costs are kept under
control. Failure to do so could result in higher interest rates."
