Contractor demand in Scotland is outpacing the rest of the UK, and pay rates are rising too. Demand grew again in December and only failed to exceed November’s growth rate because of the bad weather, according to the December 2010 Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs.
Scottish IT contractor demand surged by 12% month on month and was third in the demand table, also outpacing IT contractor demand across the UK as a whole. However, demand for engineering and construction contractors fell slightly, for the first time in 15 months; and interim management contractors experienced a big fall in demand, falling to last place in the demand table.
Because the growth in availability of contract and temporary workers was at its lowest point since June 2008, the uplift in demand led to demand growth being faster than candidate availability. This resulted in increased rates of pay, which grew at the fastest rate since May 2008.
According to Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, the Scottish labour market is at an eight-month high and almost in line with the rest of the UK: “The turnaround in the Scottish labour market first identified in October continues, led by faster vacancy growth.”
In the permanent employment jobs market, all sectors saw increased demand, with IT and Computing at a six-month high, leading the permanent employee demand table. Increased permanent employment across the board may be contributing to the slowing growth of contract and temporary worker availability.
But as MacRae notes, it is possible that Scotland has seen the best of labour market improvements, particularly as the greatest impact of public sector job cuts has yet to be felt. He warns: “Further improvement in the Scottish labour market in 2011 is likely to be muted.”