Recruitment difficulties will continue in the first quarter of 2005 as levels of employment continue to rise, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Recruitment intentions are lowest in the public sector, reflecting efforts to reduce levels of administrative or central government staff in the public sector.
The CIPD’s quarterly survey of HR trends and indicators showed that 45 per cent of employers expect to recruit additional workers in the first quarter of 2005.
The numbers of employers blaming planned redundancies on “lack of demand for product or service” (12.9 per cent) or a “reduction in budgets” (13.4 per cent) are also higher than in recent quarters. All this implies a slight slowing of the economy and consequent easing of pressure on the labour market in early 2005.
There is also a marked split between public and private sector recruitment intentions. A quarter of all private sector employers expect to be employing more people in 12 months’ time. However, no public sector employers expect to employ more staff.
John Philpott, CIPD chief economist, said the tight labour market created difficulties for employers looking for new employees and aiming to keep existing ones.
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“With pay restraint remaining the norm, employers are investing more time and effort in improving recruitment efforts,” he said.
