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Workers in the financial sector of Canary Wharf in London, Britain, walk to work during the morning rush hour on January 26, 2017. REUTERS/File Photo/Eddie Keogh (Reuters) – LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) – According to a study released on Thursday, Britain’s post-lockdown hiring boom blazed on in June, with firms employing the most permanent workers since at least the late 1990s and a candidate shortage reaching unprecedented levels, driving up beginning pay. Vacancies have also hit their greatest level in nearly 24 years, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) report. “Recruiters are working nonstop to fill positions across our sector,” said Neil Carberry, CEO of the REC. “The job market is improving at the highest rate we’ve ever seen, but it remains a volatile period.” The government’s massive job subsidy program maintained Britain’s labor market through lockdowns, and hiring is rebounding as the economy reopens. On July 19, the majority of COVID limitations in England will be lifted, allowing pubs and restaurants to serve larger crowds and large-scale public events to restart. However, with so many foreign employees fleeing the UK during the coronavirus outbreak, finding workers has become a challenge for many businesses. According to the REC poll, starting salaries increased by the most since 2014, and hourly pay rates for short-term workers increased by the most since 2004, which the Bank of England will take into account when it assesses how temporary the recent spike in inflation is likely to be. Carberry believes that the government’s coronavirus emergency job subsidies will be phased off between July and the end of September, which will result in more individuals looking for work. PageGroup (PAGE.L) and Robert Walters (RWA.L), both based in the United Kingdom, boosted their profit estimates on Wednesday as a result of increased hiring in a number of countries where they operate. However, PageGroup’s CEO said it was too early to tell whether the jump in hiring was due to transitory pent-up demand or the beginnings of a longer-term trend. find out more A separate poll conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce highlighted the difficulties faced by many firms trying to hire personnel as the economy begins to recover. According to the BCC, 52 percent of businesses attempted to hire in the second quarter of 2021, the highest number since the pandemic reached Britain. Seventy percent of them said they had trouble finding employees, up seven percentage points from the first quarter. Construction had the biggest percentage of businesses reporting difficulty, at 82 percent, followed by hotels and catering at 76 percent. According to the BCC, nearly 40% of businesses anticipate to increase their employment in the coming quarter, compared to a pre-pandemic average of 29% in 2018-19. William Schomberg wrote the piece, and David Milliken edited it. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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