The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has revealed a dearth of candidates available for recruitment to marketing and media sectors, according to their latest employment data.

According to the APSCo:

"Permanent placements have collapsed by 21% year on year, but actual job openings have risen by 2% which is indicative of an on-going scarcity of available candidates.
(The) permanent IT recruitment market is suffering badly. Despite historically being one of the most resilient sectors, permanent placements have declined by 14% year on year and vacancies have collapsed even further (16%). Yet there are encouraging signs in the temporary IT recruitment market with a 2.7% increase in placements year on year.


"Whilst the marketing and media sector is clearly booming as reflected in the increased number of job opportunities, it is concerning that staffing companies are struggling to source staff to meet the demand," said Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo.

"Recruitment consultancies need to not only work with hiring organisations to help plug this gap now, but they also need to work closely to develop effective talent pipelining strategies to prevent further skills shortages in the long run.”

Despite the continuing battle over permanent candidates, temporary or contract workers have seen their value rise immensely as business require flexibility towards their recruitment budget, as well as growth in specialised skill-sets coinciding with the advent of digital marketing.