The April 2015 London Recruitment Index registered a 6% month-on-month decrease in job availability, with 5,934 vacancies, compared to 6,331 recorded in March 2015. This dip in demand for professional talent can largely be attributed to market uncertainty in the weeks preceding the General Election. This pre-election slowdown is also reflected in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures from the National Office for Statistics (ONS) which reveal that inflation turned negative in April for the first time since 1960.

Across the private sector, the Recruitment Index reveals that, despite pre-election caution, there has been a continual rise in demand for digital talent. Businesses are heavily investing in digital contractors to optimise their online presence. There is currently unprecedented demand for experienced online content editors and digital content developers to manage the implementation and improvement of cross-channel strategies. Professionals with a good working knowledge of open source content management system (CMS) Umbraco are particularly sought after.

This demand is mirrored in the rates that these professionals are currently commanding, with digital designers receiving up to £300 a day, and experienced front end developers making in excess of £630 a day.

Jodie Finn Associate Director of Venn Group, said, “The digital skills gap facing the UK labour market has been well documented. Indeed, the European Commission (EC) has warned that the continent faces an 800,000 shortfall in skilled ICT workers by 2020. According to a recent report from The Business Growth Fund and Barclays, London is home to Europe's fastest growing tech cluster, with 27% of all job growth in London generated by the tech and digital sector.”