The number of new job opportunities available in April grew 7% year-on-year and the index now stands at 134.

April’s figures were distorted by the Easter holidays, which meant the index registered a 6% fall compared with March.

Highlights:

• A third of sectors including engineering (233), IT (172) and accountancy qualified (154), had index readings well above April’s national index of 134.
• Demand for new staff working in the energy sector bounced back by 25% compared with March and is 50% up on last year, giving an index reading of 126.
• Salaries for new jobs have stayed 1% lower in real terms than when the index was first set in December 2009.
• Vacancies available fell across all regions of the UK in April compared with March. However, annual growth in new job opportunities was seen in nine of the 12 regions analysed including the East Midlands (up 19%), East Anglia (up 12%) and Northern Ireland (up 32%)

Martin Warnes, managing director of reed.co.uk, says: “While the Easter holidays led to a disjointed period for UK business and a slowdown in job creation, the number of new opportunities available in April was 7% higher than the same point last year, following a steep increase in the first quarter.

“Last week’s announcement that the economy entered a double dip recession in the first quarter of 2012 is, first and foremost, a confidence blow and contradicts the general trend for growth we’ve seen throughout the last 12 months.

“The creation of new jobs in growth areas, such as energy, engineering and automotive, is helping give the recovery the momentum it needs. But with the high tax burden on employers recruiting new staff, now is the time for policy makers to ensure the path to a jobs-led recovery is a smooth one.”

The 8% growth is the fastest rate since November 2008, while the 25% growth in IT jobs advertised online puts the sector at its highest MEI scores in February 2008.

The report’s employer confidence barometer reached 28, with positive values suggesting growth, and the figure having stood as low as 19 in September of last year.

All sectors had an overall more positive view of temporary staffing levels in the next year compared to the previous survey, aside from professional and managerial, and hospitality, which had a more cautious view for the next quarter, but a positive view for the longer term.

On the permanent side, professional and managerial staffing outlook becomes less positive, while technology is static and all other sectors see a rise.

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s director of research, says: “The fact that nearly two-thirds of employers continue to predict a slight increase in permanent staffing is clearly a positive sign that is likely to be bolstered by this week’s budget.

“Last year, employer confidence began to build at this time only to fall away sharply over the summer, so it is still early days. However, there are signs that the current momentum in the jobs market will be more durable this time round.”

The job site’s research also shows that 78% of IT specialists think mobile computing is a good option for graduates entering the industry.

CWJobs notes a survey by software firm Antenna Software and marketing agency Vanson Bourne, which shows that UK businesses are likely to double the mobile project spend over the next year and a half.

Richard Nott, website director at CWJobs, says: “Who would have guessed five years ago that apps such as Angry Birds would turn into a multimillion pound product?

“Mobile computing presents huge opportunities for businesses, and in turn, fantastic career opportunities for skilled IT pros.”

The survey also revealed that the short-term outlook for agency staff is now stronger than a year ago, reinforcing that the Agency Workers Regulations have not dampened employers’ plans for building flexibility into their workforces.

• 65% of employers – up three points on the previous month – said they were intending to take on more permanent staff in the next three months, with another 30% looking to keep them at the same level
• 82% of employers are planning to either grow or maintain their temporary staff levels in the next three months. Over the next 12 months, the outlook is even more positive with 84% of businesses expecting to either expand or keep the same level of temporary workers
• main skills shortages for both permanent and temporary workers will be in the computing, IT & telecoms sector
• just 28% of private sector employers say the public sector cuts will have either a quite serious or serious impact with the majority, with 38% anticipating little impact and another 32% saying they will not have any effect

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s director of research, says: “Despite the ongoing undercurrent of uncertainty among employers, there are some positive signs with the majority of employers now planning to slightly increase their permanent workforce. In addition, the outlook for agency staff hires now looks stronger than a year ago, despite new regulations coming into force.”

In a year when mobile apps really took off, developers dominated the recruitment space, making up 41% of all IT jobs advertised by the final quarter of 2011. Contract IT personnel were also in high demand, with a 25% increase in postings year-on-year.

SQL was the most sought after skill in 2011; however, demand for software development methodology, Agile, went up by 59% in the number of permanent job postings over the year (Q4 2010 to Q4 2011), further demonstrating its widespread adoption in the industry.

The research also reveals that 28% more jobs were advertised in London year-on-year in the final quarter of 2011. According to CWJobs, this may have been in part due to the increased investment in the Tech City initiative in East London, which seeks to provide opportunities for tech start-ups and multinationals within the region. By the end of 2011, 77% of all permanent jobs advertised were in the Southern and Western regions of England.

The figures show that the public sector has now experienced nine consecutive quarters of decline, with a 16% decrease in jobs in the last quarter of 2011. However, following the significant drop in IT vacancies in 2009 and 2008 due to the recession, the financial sector saw significant improvements in 2011. This sector, as financial companies begin to reinvest in IT, now represents 21% of all IT jobs.

At 123, the index remains above the 100 level set as a baseline in December 2009 and 9% higher than the January 2011 figure of 113.

Estate agency jobs were up 24 points to 146, and charity & voluntary saw a 22 point rise to 142. The largest month-to-month drops in the Index came in consumer-facing sectors, with hospitality & catering jobs demand dropping 33 points from December.

Martin Warnes, managing director of reed.co.uk, says: “The recovery in the jobs market continues to be a slow one.Nevertheless, year-on-year growth in new jobs of 9% for January is encouraging and underlines the determination of UK businesses to ride out the economic storm.”

Their report revealed that more than a quarter (27%) of employers are planning to increase the number of agency workers they employ in the short term. Added to this over half of them (57%) aim to keep temporary staff levels around the same. In the long term the figures are similar, with 22% planning to increase and 65% looking to keep levels the same.

REC Director of Research Roger Tweedy said that this caution and “wait and see” approach was likely to be linked to the economic concerns in the Eurozone, but that confidence and hiring intentions will rise over the course of the year. He continued;

“The outlook for temporary staff remains encouraging despite the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) now being in force. Since October, 65 per cent of employers have not made any changes to their use of agency workers following AWR implementation.”

“The data also shows that the vast majority of businesses plan to maintain or increase their use of temporary staff which indicates that flexible working options will continue to provide an important outlet for employers and job-seekers.”

AWR gives temporary workers an entitlement to the same pay and benefits as permanent staff after an initial 12-week period.  There has been much speculation about the possible impact of the regulations and UK Contractors may well have been concerned as a result that employers would no longer want to use their services.

The latest figures show that 82 per cent of employers plan to increase or maintain their staffing levels of UK Contractors and other temporary workers.  These figures apply over both the short term and the longer term.  Although the percentage has slightly fallen since last month, REC says the figures show that the implementation of AWR has not led to plans by employers to cut their use of UK Contractors.

REC’s director of research, Roger Tweedy, said, “The underlying trend this month is one of improvement in employers’ optimism about their future hiring intentions. Though the overall scores have only fluctuated slightly over the past month, the last three months of data show that there are definite signs that confidence is returning.”

He added that while employers may “err on the side of caution” until the effects of AWR are fully realised, feedback they received from recruiters indicated consistently that workers with the right skills are still being sought by UK businesses.  ”This explains the slight upturn in hiring intentions and confirms that job opportunities are still out there,” he said.

Whilst the market for IT professionals is growing as society becomes more reliant upon technology, formal IT qualifications are dropping in take up and perception. In a report compiled by CWJobs.co.uk, 71% of IT professionals perceive self taught candidates to be as skilled as their formally qualified counter parts.

Although the IT and Telecoms industry contributes over £81b to the economy there is not enough investment in schools to get children interested in IT beyond teaching the basic processing skills; the number of students taking up IT at GCSE level has dropped by 50% since 2006. For the full whitepaper, for free, please click below to download and gain further insight into current issues facing the future of the IT industry in the UK.