As the last month of summer, workers’ August diaries are normally filled with plans to make the most of the remaining summer sunshine, rather than plans that are related to their next career move.
However, despite the fact that August seems the most unlikely month for workers to get down to the serious business of job hunting, figures from research by Randstad reveal that this is exactly what occurs.
Their figures show that while the number of jobseekers per advertised technology vacancy stands at an average of 2.3, this leaps to a more competitive 3.1 once August rolls around.
With scores of graduates entering the talent pool at this time, it stands to reason that degree holders would be among this group of fervent jobseekers.
August best time to recruit “high flyers”
Commenting on the research findings, Randstad Technologies’ Managing Director, Mike Beresford revealed that the technology recruitment temperature gauge has a favourable reading in the summer months. He said:
“These figures show the competition for the best talent is less intense. With the ratio of candidates to potential vacancies so advantageous to the hiring organisation, the summer is an ideal time to recruit. You might not be able to count on the sun during a typical British August, but if you are in the IT and Technology industries you can count on having to fight that little bit less hard for every candidate you want to hire.”
He goes on to say that August is the optimum time for firms to recruit “high fliers”. For those candidates or firms who want to wait until activity in the jobs market has quietened a little, the research also reveals that the number of jobseekers applying for IT and Technology roles falls to 1.2 in January.
Whatever time of year they apply, IT systems experts can expect to enjoy a salary outside of London that has climbed by almost two-thirds (65%) over the last three years.
Skills shortages still abound
Beresford went on to say that despite favourable candidate odds, employers feel that there are “still significant skills gaps in the workforce”.
This idea comes just weeks after Ed Miliband announced his party’s plans for a “technical degree” that would be launched under a Labour government.
It is hoped that the degree, which would enable students to study part-time as well as working part-time, will help to create a new generation of technically skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates, at a time when employers in these industries have expressed concerns about a skills shortage.
If you are keen to recruit your next round of candidates from the graduate talent pool, Discovery Graduates can help with all stages of the graduate recruitment process including attraction, recruitment and retention.
