Scottish firms 'increasingly turning to short-term staff'

There are signs that Scottish firms are increasingly turning to short-term staff to fill job vacancies, according to a Royal Bank of Scotland survey.

Its latest jobs market report suggested permanent staff recruitment fell for the second month in a row in August.

It was the first back-to-back fall since January 2017.

Meanwhile, temporary billings rose at the fastest rate in five months, while temporary vacancy growth "quickened" from July.

Growth in permanent vacancies eased to the lowest level in more than three-and-a-half years while permanent candidate availability also continued to deteriorate, according to the bank.

IT and computing remained the sector with the highest number of permanent vacancies, while nursing/medical/care was the highest for temporary positions.

Market 'softening'

Salaries awarded to newly-appointed permanent workers rose slightly in August, although the pace of the increase was the slowest since January 2017.

RBS chief economist Sebastian Burnside said its latest survey of recruitment firms indicated "a softening of the Scottish labour market, albeit only moderate, and softer than across the UK as a whole".

He added: "Moreover, data also appeared to highlight firms' preference towards temporary staff over permanent employees as slower permanent vacancy growth contrasted with strong demand for temporary workers.

"In addition, temporary billings continued to rise with Scotland markedly outperforming the UK as a whole."