The Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 100 Scottish recruitment and employment consultancies. Headlines from the June survey are:

Hesitancy to commit to new hires
Recruiters struggled to fill roles due to the impact of a subdued economic climate creating hesitancy to commit to new hires. Clients are looking for “perfect fits” before they commit and candidates needing to know the role and company is the right one before committing to a move.

Perm candidate shortage persists
Solid and continuing decrease in permanent candidate availability in Scotland whilst the rest of the UK showed candidate availability improved at the quickest pace in two and a half years.

Increase in salaries
A tight labour market also meant that firms raised their starting salaries and wages further in order to attract suitable candidates.” Permanent starting salaries increased again across Scotland at the end of the second quarter. Shortages of skilled candidates and competition for labour drove up pay. The rate at which starting salaries increased across Scotland outpaced the UK-wide average.

Tech Sector
Tech sector showed strong rise in permanent vacancies and also showed a slight increase in Temp vacancies.

What this means for candidates?
Don’t be so cautious, now continues to be a good market to look for a new job and negotiate an advantageous salary, work life balance and career progression.

What this means for employers?
Employers will need to work hard in cases to identify and attract candidates so being flexible, open minded and willing to develop people to fill knowledge gaps may well give long term gains for the short term investment. Make sure to exhaust all internal options sometimes there are hidden gems being overlooked in organisations.

Enigma People Solutions is an award-winning technology recruitment consultancy. We find technical leaders for the emerging and enabling technology industries. Visit our services page for more information. Visit our job search page for the latest vacancies in photonics, electronics, semiconductor, software and IoT in Scotland and the UK. Check out our blog page for the latest in the technology industry. You can get in touch with us hello@enigmapeople.com or call us on + 44 131 510 8150