PEOPLE seeking temporary jobs are landing them within a day, while permanent jobs can take four to six weeks to fill, a recruitment company has said.

A recent study from the recruiter Randstad interviewed 6,000 people and found 69 per cent were confident about moving to a new job in the next few months.

Lucy Eaton, national industrial division manager for the Poole recruitment company TeamJobs, said: “Where we are today, if someone calls my team on a Friday morning, there is a job for them that day.

“The demand is there, particularly with the picking and packing roles in the build-up to Christmas. We have hundreds of people in jobs for December. So, if someone believes they can make a transition to a temp role and get a new role within a day, the capacity is there.”

However, the slower process of recruiting permanent staff could see some employers miss out on good candidates, the company says.

Rob Bruce, senior recruitment consultant, said: “In a candidate-driven market, there has to be an emphasis on coaching clients. By this I mean efficiency from receiving CVs and the stages afterward to encourage flow.

“Clients do not want to lose the potential candidates who have a great fit. When there become three or four decision stages this can slow down the process, and when response times become delayed it can jeopardise the whole cycle.”

Recruitment consultant Lindae Fyffe said: ”I have seen a client lose a great candidate based on prolonging decisions. With the cards in the candidates’ favour, there has to be a pace to the recruitment selection process

“As a ballpark and from my perspective it could take four to six weeks. For a senior hire and factoring in notice periods, this could over three months.”

Jaime Rana, senior recruitment consultant, said: “I could take a brief from a great client for a new role, but it can be so unpredictable. I would say don’t think you can leave a role and your dream job is a matter of weeks away. A lot depends on how a client views the investment in the candidate.

“I have seen senior roles offered in a matter of weeks and junior roles taking many weeks. It centres around feedback, relationships and availability.”