Hiring intentions remain strong despite falling business confidence, report reveals

Despite a significant fall in the level of business confidence across UK firms, hiring intentions for both permanent and temporary staff remain strong, a new report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) suggests.

The paper points out that, out of all the organisations surveyed for the report, in the three months to August, 34 per cent said they had no capacity to take on more work without hiring additional staff, while 43 per cent said they had only a small amount of capacity.

Almost a quarter (22 per cent) were planning to take on permanent staff over the next three months, compared with 9 per cent that were looking to increase the number of temporary staff over the same period.

Micro and small businesses were most likely to increase both their permanent and temporary headcount over the next quarter.

Kevin Green, chief executive of REC, said the research showed the fundamentals of the UK jobs market were strong, with record employment levels: “Thanks to a resilient, business-as-usual attitude from consumers since the referendum, demand on businesses has remained buoyant, and this is reflected in employers saying they will actively expand their workforces in the coming months.”

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