Temporary vacancies in Scotland rise by 6 per cent year on year

The data, provided by recruitment software company, Innovantage, revealed that despite an uplift in temporary roles, permanent vacancies experienced a decrease, declining 10 per cent year on year to January.

Demand for temporary professionals rose significantly across a number of sectors including construction and legal which recorded uplifts of 20 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

Diane Turnbull, membership relations manager for Scotland at APSCo, said: “After months of increased optimism across Scotland, professional job availability rose once again year on year to January. Despite commentators predicting instability in the employment market as the UK prepares to invoke Article 50, hiring sentiment has remained broadly stable in the months since the referendum. APSCo’s findings sit in line with the national average, with recent figures from the Office for National Statistics revealing that overall employment reached 74.6% in the three months to December 2016 – the highest since comparable records began.

“Temporary professionals are being increasingly sought after in the construction sector, with demand rising 20 per cent year on year to January. This increase is no doubt, at least in part, due to the ever rising skills shortages in the construction sector. In fact according to a report from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Scotland will need to meet an annual recruitment requirement of 2,340 for the next four years in order to bridge growing skills gaps. Demand also increased in Scotland’s legal sector, with a recent report from Thomson Legal suggesting that demand for talent is only likely to get fiercer over the next year.”