Zarah ChoudharyIn its latest Hiring Intentions survey, Robert Half found that more than half (53%) of employers plan to increase their permanent headcount in the first half of this year, up seven-percentage points on H2 2024 figures.
Demand for IT and technology specialists has begun to rebound, with the majority of businesses planning to increase headcount in these remits by the summer according to the latest data from the international recruitment organisation.
This is indicative of a rebound in the market, following rounds of layoffs last year.
The data also painted an optimistic picture for temporary work, with 34% of employers planning to increase contract resources and 43% intending to hire more project-based professionals in the remit throughout the next six months.
This marked an uptick of nine and five percentage points respectively.
Craig Freedberg, regional director at Robert Half commented: “Despite a tough year in 2024 our analysis suggests that IT and technology hiring is rebounding, which is good news for the UK economy as a whole.
“Employment trends in this remit often pre-empt broader growth in other areas and we hope that this optimism will trickle into other specialisms, providing some much-needed optimism in amongst the recent doom and gloom.
“However, while there were layoffs last year, the pool of talent available for employers remains limited, largely due to the growing skills shortages across specialist IT and technology remits.
“Our data shows that 78% of employers have concerns around finding the qualified talent they need in IT and technology.
“These individuals will still be feeling the effects of the upheaval last year and may be reluctant to make a career move, meaning that businesses will have to work much harder to engage with and attract top talent.”
