Demand for nurses grows despite job market slow-down
- Published: 18 August 2008 14:44
- Author: Steve Ford
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- Last Updated: 18 August 2008 14:45
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The nurse jobs market appears to be bucking the overall trend of the credit crunch, according to figures for July.
According to the latest report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG, nursing has remained the most sought-after job category for both permanent and temporary staff.
The report is compiled from a monthly survey of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.
Overall, it found the job market was continuing to weaken, with the number of people starting permanent placements falling at their fastest rate since 2001 and demand for temporary staff slowing.
However, of the eight main types of job monitored by the report, nursing and medical care was one of the only ones to record both a growth in permanent job uptake and also a growth in demand for agency staff.
Peter Cullimore, chairperson the REC's nursing and social care group, said: 'The increased demand in our sector is not unexpected but is placing increased pressure on the availability of suitable staff. Proposed changes in immigration requirements will make staff shortages an even greater problem moving forward. The downturn in the economy however may counteract this problem by moving more staff into the sector.'
