Jobs market stays in shape

Tue 15 Jan 2008

Ongoing demand for IT jobs is only one factor which has suggested the UK jobs market is still in shape, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has claimed.

The organisation has predicted that demand for programmers, systems administrators and technical support staff would continue into 2008.

Tom Hadley, REC's director of external relations, was keen to dispute what he referred to as "self-fulfilling prophecies" that were less positive about the UK's jobs market.

He said it was important to "not lose sight of some of the longer-term resourcing needs" as the supply of jobs to the public and private sectors was "crucial" to their performance.

"In particular, demographic changes over the next ten to 15 years will continue to have a massive impact on a number of key sectors with employers facing a huge challenge of replacing retiring employees," he added.

According to the ONS, the employment rate for people of working age was 74.5 per cent for the three months to October 2007, up 0.1 from the previous quarter.