The Recruitment & Employment Confederation said that demand for construction workers picked up in January. The growth in placements by recrtuitment consultants for permanent construction and engineering staff scored an index of 57.7, where 50 represents no change and anything over 50 represents growth. For temporary jobs in construction and engineering, the index was slightly higher at 58.
Overall, across all industries, there was a modest rise in permanent staff appointments for the first time in four months during January. The January reading across all jobs was 51.2, up from 48.5 in December.
The report is co-produced by KPMG, whose head of business services, Bernard Brown, said: “There are signs within some industries that things are looking up. Amongst the engineering, construction and IT sectors demand for permanent staff has increased since the turn of the year. With so much attention being paid to these sectors at the moment, close attention should be paid to see if this is a trend set to continue as the year progresses.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
