Softest rise in IT vacancies for over two years in January

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Softest rise in IT vacancies for over two years in January.

The latest Report on Jobs, published by KPMG and the REC, showed a further increase in demand for both permanent and temporary IT workers during January.

Adjusted for seasonality, the IT & Computing permanent vacancies index registered well above the neutral 50.0 level at 61.1 in January. Although the reading was consistent with a sharp rise in demand, the latest figure was the lowest seen in 28 months. Across the ten monitored job categories, IT & Computing was the third best-performing sector for permanent staff vacancies and continued to outperform the UK average (59.2).

Similar to permanent vacancies, temporary vacancies in IT & Computing increased at a softer pace in January. The respective index posted 56.3, down from 58.0 in December, to point to the joint-slowest rise in demand for 28 months in January. The increase in short-term IT vacancies was also softer than seen for temp staff as a whole across the UK (58.5). Overall, IT & Computing ranked sixth in the temporary job sector rankings.

Ian West, head of TMT at KPMG UK said: “While hiring continued at pace across most areas of the economy, it is clear that the industry is suffering from a skills shortage, with recruiters struggling to meet demand for roles. Such shortages are driving employers to really look at their 'grow your own' strategies both from an acquisition of talent perspective and via structured development programmes. 

“Businesses will want to see this addressed as soon as possible, with measures to boost apprenticeships and other routes into these roles.”