Antal International’s latest global snapshot of employment markets shows that hiring activity rose slightly in the last quarter.

52% of the respondents to the global executive recruitment firm’s survey recruited at managerial and professional level, compared to 50% when the last survey was conducted in February. And 52% said they plan to increase their workforce next quarter. Attrition rates in June were 17%, up one percentage point from February and is expected that this figure will remain stable during the next quarter.

Tony Goodwin, the chief executive and chairman of Antal, said the previous Global Snapshot indicated that stability was returning to the global market and this latest survey confirms that. The overall results fit almost exactly with those predicted in the February report with 52% of companies increasing their managerial and professional workforce and just 17% reducing their headcounts.

In February, the Americas outstripped Asia Pacific when it came to demand for professional and managerial staff, but that situation has reversed as 64% of Asia Pacific businesses looked for more employees.

In the UK, the Reed Job Index for June showed demand increased over the majority of sectors. The Index is now 25% above the 100 baseline set in December 2009.

Demand for employees in engineering, general insurance, industrial areas and professional services is now at its highest level since the Index began. On a regional level, East Anglia and the East midlands registered the largest increase in jobs growth, whilst the South East and London recovered from their dip in May.

Although there are now more job opportunities, the salaries on offer are not increasing. In fact, the Reed Salary Index has shown a decrease in the past two months and is now 2% below the 100 baseline.

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The latest Reed Job Index shows that UK job opportunities slipped back for the second consecutive month in May.

Despite this, the year-on-year demand is up 18 points and the Job Index now stands at 121, whilst the Salary Index has dropped to 98 after wages for new positions were found to be 2% lower in real terms than they were in the final month of 2009. The Reed Job Index was first published in December 2009 and the Index’s baseline was set at 100.

Private sector growth has fuelled the increase but the public sector did register a 9 point increase last month to give the Reed Public Sector Job Index a total of 59.

Not all sectors registered a decline. Retail, leisure and tourism led the way and demand also grew in consultancy, logistics, strategy and transport.

Reed’s chairman, James Reed, explained that more people are looking for jobs now because of salary freezes and price and tax increases. 97% of employers rank mindset above skill set and candidates must make their CV stand out.

The Services Purchasing Managers Index also dropped last month; from 54.3 in April to 53.8. This suggests that growth should still be marginally higher than it was in the six month period ending March. An Index reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector, so the latest figures show a deceleration.

The PMI for recruitment registered 50.1, suggesting marginal growth but the manufacturing PMI dropped to its lowest level since September 2009 when the UK was still in the middle of the recession.

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Marks Sattin, the accountancy and financial services recruiter, has released details of its research into salaries in the professions.

Professionals in the financial services sector enjoyed average salary increases of nearly 8% in 2010 and many are expecting a bumper 13.5% rise this year. This would bring the average salary to £41,300.

However, Marks Sattin’s MD, Dave Way, said salary increases were below expectations last year as employers looked to restoring their margins after the recession and if that trend is repeated this year, the rise will only be 8.5%. He went on to say that professionals in the sector are optimistic that business will continue to pick up, but they may be being over optimistic in their expectation of a 13.5% rise.

The survey also discovered that the average bonus payment last year was £6,900 equating to nearly 20% of basic salary. Job security in the sector improved last year as the average time spent in a role rose by two months to 31.5 months.

Temporary staff’s pay remained higher than their permanent and contractor counterparts even though their rate only increased by 2%. The average temporary worker earned the equivalent of £45,100 last year, 24% more than those with more stable contracts.

Meanwhile, Powerchex has reported that the two 4 day weekends in April had an adverse affect on recruitment in the financial services sector.

The number of job offers in investment banking dropped by more than 30% last month and stockbroking and hedge funds also reported less recruitment activity. On the other hand, job offers in investment management bucked the trend by rising 19% compared to the previous month.

One group that has seen a marked increase in recruitment activity is IT contractors. There were 75% more vacancies for their skills last month compared to this time last year as companies look to improve data security.

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Umbrella company contractors may be interested to learn that public sector pay has risen at a faster rate than it has in the private sector.

The gap between equivalent employees’ hourly pay rate now stands at more than 30%, according the Policy Exchange, the centre-right think tank. Public sector employees are enjoying increased salaries while their private sector counterparts are seeing their standard of living decline dramatically.

However, Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC, said employees in both sectors are having an awful time and this report was designed to create divisions between workers. He pointed out that public sector employees face a salary freeze, redundancies and have seen their pension values cut by 25%.

The think tank report claimed that a typical public sector employee can expect to receive 20% more than a private sector worker in the North East and North West, Scotland and Wales.

The question of salary is just one of the problems facing public sector workers who hope to transition to the private sector. 330,000 public sector workers are likely to be made redundant as part of the government spending cuts and they will face a number of challenges.

The REC believes that recruiters could have a major role to play in making the transition painless for both employee and employer.

Hayes and the London Chamber of Commerce have produced a report recommending that the government should offer incentives, such as subsidies for training, to employers who hire employees from the public sector.

The report goes on to suggest that recruiters and LEPs should work with professional membership bodies and Trade Associations to identify future skills shortages and look for ways that ex-public sector workers can fill the gaps. Public sector organisations should also take a proactive role in supporting workers who face redundancy, by providing practical advice and programmes designed to prepare them for life in the private sector.

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It would appear that people seeking executive jobs in the UK are not as confident that Britain is “open for business” as the Chancellor is.

TheLadders.co.uk, an executive services website, conducted a survey at the beginning of this month that discovered that George Osborne’s Budget only increased the confidence of 22% of executive jobseekers.

At the heart of this lack of confidence is the belief that the private sector will be unable to absorb the high number of public sector redundancies. 78% of the survey’s respondents think the amount of newly created private sector jobs will not be enough to counterbalance job losses.

Worryingly, 49% of Brits seeking an executive job would be prepared to move overseas to find employment. Unless new jobs are created quickly, this “brain drain” could see top talent leaving the UK.

61% of the survey’s respondents would be prepared to take a cut in salary in order to secure a new position. However, that might not be necessary as the latest REC/KPMG Report on jobs shows average starting salaries are now at their highest in eight months. Employers have realised that they need to compete harder if they want to hire the best, especially in the engineering, finance and IT sectors.

Meanwhile, the current number of people unemployed in the UK stands at 2.48 million, a decrease of 17,000 on the previous quarterly figures.

Despite this welcome news, Tom Hadley from the REC warns that the job market is still extremely fragile. The latest Report on Jobs showed that vacancies have risen to their highest level in 12 months giving a tentative sign that public sector redundancies could be absorbed into the private sector.

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59% of and umbrella company IT contractors and professionals are not loyal to their employment, according to a recent survey from The IT Job Board.

The most common reason, cited by 53% of the respondents, for disloyalty was put down to management not listening whilst 46% said the company they worked for cut corners. The banking and finance sectors have the highest movement amongst IT workers at 34%.

Now that the recession is over, 85% of IT workers are thinking of changing their job and 80% hope to achieve this aim next year.

Of those who plan to leave their current position, 53% said it was because they feel they are not valued and 48% say their current salary or rate is poor. Improved corporate communication could be the key to improved loyalty according to 58% of the respondents.

Of those who remain loyal to their employer, 45% said it was due to the exciting nature of the projects they were working on and another 45% said they liked the teams they worked with.

The MD of The IT Job Board, Alex Farrell, said employers should be worried about the high level of dissatisfaction expressed by IT professionals. With 80% planning to look for new jobs next year, employers could be in for a tough time recruiting replacement staff.

Employers must look to improving communications with their employees and making them feel valued. The best talent will be snapped up quickly due to the skills shortages that exist within the IT sector and employers will need to sell themselves to candidates if they want to attract high calibre workers.

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