Engineering and construction companies are leading a widely spread drive to take on new staff, particularly for secretarial and clerical jobs, possibly seeking to release skilled people for more profitable use of their time.
The monthly Report on Jobs, from KPMG and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation showed the growth of permanent staff placements running at a 30-month high, while temporary billings rose at the slowest pace for six months.
Wages and salaries recorded a further robust rise, according to the report - unlike a separate one from Voca indicating that the rise in take-home pay is slowing down.
"This month the engineering and construction sectors continue to dominate demand for both permanent and temporary staff," said Renu Birla, people services director of KPMG in Birmingham.
With on-going projects like (Heathrow's Terminal Five) and large construction projects for the Olympics starting to come to the fore, we are seeing a real battle for talent being fought in these sectors.
"It is unlikely to ease for a long time."
A recent change, he added, is that demand for secretarial and clerical staff is now overtaking that for accounting, financial, and executive and professional people.
"Clearly very different skills are needed to satisfy these positions, and perhaps provide evidence that employers are seeking to push work down to secretarial and clerical staff in an effort to free up highly skilled staff to pursue more profitable business."
Marcia Roberts, chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, warned that any easing of skill shortages is likely to be temporary. "Lack of suitable candidates for positions in industries such as construction and engineering continues to be an area of serious concern," she said.
"If large projects, such as the Olympics, are going to be built then a diverse approach to sourcing skilled workers is needed. This includes better investment in training in the UK as well as ethical recruitment of migrant workers."
