Mon, 1 Sep 2014Professional recruitment firms in the UK have 22% more permanent vacancies on their books than this time last year, but Scotland is missing out on the jobs boom ahead of the referendum, according to a study compiled by Staffing Industry Analysts and released by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

Its research revealed that the engineering and media sectors in Scotland were bucking the national trend with decreases in vacancies, -7% and -10% respectively. Online recruitment activity in Scotland has also slowed. This could indicate that some employers are waiting for the outcome on independence to reassess their hiring strategies.

The research painted a different picture for the UK as a whole, with permanent vacancies up by 22%. Significant increases in permanent roles can be seen in accounting & finance and media & marketing, 13% and 16% respectively.

The data also showed that median salaries across all professional sectors have increased marginally year-on-year (0.7%). The most significant growth was seen in the IT (2%), engineering (11%) and finance sectors (2%).