Specifically, the report — which is compiled by S&P Global from responses to questionnaires sent to around 100 Scottish recruitment and employment consultancies — found a further decline in permanent staff appointments across Scotland.

This continued fall marks the fifth month of the current contraction. That said, the rate at which permanent appointments decreased in Scotland was weaker when compared to the UK as a whole.

The number of candidates available for permanent jobs during June also fell. While the decline is softer than the average recorded over the last 29 months of contraction, June’s pace of decline happened to be the strongest in the last three months.

In particular, recruiters noted that skill shortages and lingering market uncertainty had impacted candidate numbers. Though, the shortages and the subsequent competition around skilled candidates has driven up starting salaries.

Permanent starting salaries increased again across in Scotland in June, with the rate of growth quickening from May’s 27-month low. The rate at which Scottish salaries increased outperformed the UK average.

Demand for permanent staff also increased across Scotland last month. But, after having slowed for 13 months, the rate of expansion accelerated at the end of the quarter and outpaced the UK’s rate.

On the new data, Sebastian Burnside, the Chief Economist at RBS, said: “The latest recruitment survey data for Scotland pointed to further falls in hiring activity across both permanent and temporary jobs markets at the end of the second quarter.”

Further, “Despite vacancies increasing […] this caution around the outlook combined with candidate shortages meant that recruiters struggled to fill roles. A tight labour market also meant that firms raised their starting salaries and wages further in order to attract suitable candidates.”

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The candidate and skill shortages are facets that both the UK and Scottish tech sector have had to grapple with in recent years.

For instance, new research from the Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index and the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that there are on average 52,000 unfilled IT jobs in the UK.

In a bid to help alleviate the pervasive issue, Rich Wilson of Gigged.AI recently took to DIGIT to advocate for “quiet hiring” as a potential short-term solution for bridging tech’s candidate and skills gap.