Engineers Top Recruiters’ Skills Shortages List

Permanent recruitment has risen in the last three months from four per cent to seven per cent of recruitment agency jobs, with engineers topping the skills shortages list, according to the latest RCSA (Recruitment & Consulting Services Association) survey. On-hired and contractor placements have dropped from 97 per cent to 92 per cent in that time.

This is a positive sign of employment and economic recovery, according to Julie Mills, CEO of the RCSA.

‘When there’s a rise in permanent hiring, it’s a sign that employers are confident they have the work and the revenue to keep people on long-term. And in past downturns, it’s been a sign for the recruitment sector that the worst is over and the recovery has begun in earnest,’ said Ms Mills.

Permanent recruitment has risen in the last three months from four per cent to seven per cent of recruitment agency jobs, with engineers topping the skills shortages list, according to the latest RCSA (Recruitment & Consulting Services Association) survey. On-hired and contractor placements have dropped from 97 per cent to 92 per cent in that time.

This is a positive sign of employment and economic recovery, according to Julie Mills, CEO of the RCSA.

‘When there’s a rise in permanent hiring, it’s a sign that employers are confident they have the work and the revenue to keep people on long-term. And in past downturns, it’s been a sign for the recruitment sector that the worst is over and the recovery has begun in earnest,’ said Ms Mills.

RCSA members’ business confidence has grown, with 72.5 per cent expecting business to grow in the next quarter (up six per cent from the last quarter). Business volumes are expected to rise by 8.5 per cent (compared with last quarter’s 5.7 per cent) and client interaction by 18 per cent.

As the employment market picks up, recruiters have found their skills shortages lists have changed from last year, with engineers now replacing health professionals and nurses in the top spot. Health and medical professionals still dominate the list alongside building and trade workers, and business professionals have returned to the top 10 for the first time in over a year.

The top 10 skills shortages nationally are:

1.    Non-building professional engineers
2.    Health professionals
3.    Nurses
4.    Non-building engineering associates and technicians
5.    Building professionals
6.    Medical technicians
7.    Building associates and technicians
8.    Non-building electrical/electronic trades
9.    Business professionals
10.  Electrical trades (building)

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