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Perm Stabilises, Temp Surges: How Recruitment Agencies Should Rebalance BD Across Perm and Temp Desks (2026)

KPMG/REC data shows permanent placements levelling off after a 45-month decline while temp billings keep rising. Here is how agencies should rebalance BD effort, ICP and signals across perm and temp desks without adding headcount.

TB Team Boilr

· October 8, 2026 · 13 min read

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TL;DR

The KPMG and REC Report on Jobs now shows two different markets running side by side. Permanent placements rose marginally in August, the first increase since September 2022, after a 45-month downturn ended in July [1] [3]. Temp billings rose for the fifth month in a row, at the second-quickest pace in over three years [1]. Overall demand for staff still fell for the 34th month running [1]. So perm is stabilising, not booming, and temp is where the momentum is. The agencies that win the next two quarters will not swing the whole BD effort to temp. They will rebalance deliberately: separate ICPs, separate signals, separate metrics per desk, and a weekly allocation of BD hours that follows evidence rather than habit. boilr runs the signal detection and ICP filtering for both desks, so the rebalance does not need more headcount.

What the Latest KPMG/REC Data Actually Says

The report is compiled by S&P Global from questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies [1]. It measures direction (above 50 is an increase, below 50 a decrease), not absolute volume, so read it as a trend signal for your desks rather than a forecast of your billings. The sequence across the last four editions is the story.

Edition (data month)	Permanent placements	Temp billings
June 2026 (May data)	Fell at the quickest pace in ten months [5]	Rose at the strongest pace in over three years [5]
July 2026 (June data)	Fell only marginally, the softest decline in three months [4]	Rose at the fastest rate since April 2023 [4]
August 2026 (July data)	Stabilised, ending a 45-month downturn [3]	Rose for a fourth straight month [3]
September 2026 (August data)	Rose marginally, first rise since September 2022 [1]	Rose for a fifth month, second-quickest pace in over three years [1]

Three details that matter for BD

Demand is still shrinking overall - total demand for staff fell for the 34th month in a row in the latest report, and permanent vacancies fell at a solid pace [1]. Stabilising placements are not the same as growing client demand.
Temp is complementing, not replacing, perm - REC interim chief executive Maxine Bligh said it is encouraging that temporary recruitment is "now complementing rather than replacing permanent hiring" [2]. KPMG's Jon Holt links employer preference for flexible temporary hires to their investment plans [2].
The candidate side is not symmetrical - permanent candidate supply rose more sharply than temp supply, and temp supply posted its second-softest rise in over three years [1]. Temp wage growth reached a 26-month high in the July edition [3]. Temp desks are competing for workers, perm desks are not.

Where the movement is, by sector and region

Perm sectors - in the latest report permanent vacancies rose in Engineering and Accounting/Financial and fell in the other eight monitored categories, with the steepest falls in Retail and Hotel & Catering [1].
Temp sectors - temp vacancies rose in four of ten monitored sectors, led by Blue Collar and IT & Computing [1]. In July the lead was Blue Collar and Engineering [3].
Regions - permanent placements rose in London and the Midlands and fell in the South and North of England; temp billings rose in three of four English areas, led by the North [1].
Contract work - the report ties temp growth to a preference for short-term staff and greater amounts of contract work [2].

A caution before we build a plan on this: Bligh also said "this is not the time to take the job market for granted" [1], and the report is UK-only. If your desks sit in the DACH region or elsewhere in the EU, use it as a directional read, then check your own pipeline data.

Why "More Temp" Is the Wrong Reaction and "Business as Usual" Is Too

There are two lazy responses to this data, and both cost billings.

Chase the temp wave with everyone - perm consultants who suddenly cold-call volume accounts with a temp pitch burn their best relationships and compete on rate with agencies built for it.
Ignore the turn in perm - after 45 months of decline, a stabilising perm market means the first agencies in front of recovering hiring plans will take the mandates. Waiting for job boards means arriving second.
Treat both desks as one funnel - one ICP, one outreach sequence and one set of KPIs hides which desk is actually converting. Perm and temp buyers are often different people at the same company.
Copy last year's BD allocation - hours split by habit (usually "whoever shouts loudest") rather than by where client demand is moving.

A Framework for Rebalancing BD Across Perm and Temp

Step 1: Split the ICP by desk

Your temp ICP and your perm ICP are rarely the same list. Write them separately, then check overlap.

Temp ICP - companies with recurring volume need: seasonal peaks, shift-based operations, project and contract work, multi-site employers, firms bringing in contractors to support investment plans. Sectors where the latest report shows temp vacancies rising (Blue Collar, Engineering, IT & Computing) are the obvious place to start [1] [3].
Perm ICP - companies with specific leadership or specialist gaps: scale-ups with fresh capital, firms with new leadership, businesses opening a function. The latest data shows perm vacancies rising only in Engineering and Accounting/Financial, so your perm list should be narrower and sharper, not broader [1].
Shared accounts - flag the companies that fit both. These are your cross-sell targets: a temp relationship that later converts to perm mandates, or a perm client who needs interim cover.

Step 2: Use different signals for each desk

The biggest BD mistake in a mixed market is using perm signals to feed a temp desk, or the reverse. The trigger that tells you a perm brief is coming does not tell you a temp requirement is coming.

Signal	Perm desk read	Temp / contract desk read
Funding round	Strong - leadership and team build follows, often weeks later	Moderate - project capacity and contractors, usually after the perm hires
Executive move	Strong - new leaders rebuild teams and reset supplier lists	Weak to moderate - only if they bring a delivery programme
Job-posting velocity	Strong for specialist roles posted repeatedly	Strong for the same title posted across several sites
Contract or tender win	Weak	Strong - delivery needs flexible capacity fast
New site or expansion	Moderate - management and specialist hires	Strong - volume hires to staff the site
Seasonal pattern	Weak	Strong - approach before the peak, not during it
Redundancy news	Mixed - cost pressure, but also restructures that create gaps	Mixed - may cut agency spend, or shift it to flexible labour

The ratings above are our practical read of how each trigger typically behaves, not measured conversion rates. Test them against your own win history before you hard-code them into scoring.

Step 3: Reallocate BD hours by evidence, not instinct

Do not announce a "70/30 temp/perm split". Reallocate in small, reversible steps and let the pipeline tell you whether the move paid off.

Baseline - for the last two quarters, log BD hours, meetings booked and mandates won per desk.
Shift one slot - move one or two BD blocks per week from the weakest-converting desk to the strongest, rather than moving whole people.
Hold for six weeks - BD cycles are slow, so judge on meetings and qualified conversations, not on placements.
Review weekly - use a short pipeline review per desk (see our guide to the weekly BD pipeline review) and move hours again if the signal quality changes.

Step 4: Set separate metrics per desk

Perm and temp run on different clocks. Judging a temp desk on perm metrics (or the reverse) will make you cut the wrong thing.

Metric	Perm desk	Temp / contract desk
Lead KPI	Qualified briefs and exclusive or retained mandates	Active contractors on assignment and accounts with weekly orders
BD velocity	Days from signal to first conversation	Days from signal to first order
Quality of account	Brief-to-shortlist and shortlist-to-interview ratios	Fill rate and time to fill
Value	Fee per placement, mandate type	Gross margin per hour and per assignment
Retention	Repeat mandates per client	Assignment extensions and number of repeat orders
Cross-desk	Temp clients converted to perm briefs	Perm clients adding a flexible-labour order

Eight Rebalancing Plays for Real Desks

These are scenarios we see as sensible responses to the data, described qualitatively rather than as client results.

Engineering agency - both desks have tailwind (engineering vacancies rose in the perm and temp data [1] [3]). Keep perm BD running on funding and expansion signals, and add a contract desk play aimed at companies winning delivery programmes.
IT and tech agency - IT & Computing led temp vacancy growth in the latest edition [1]. Prioritise accounts adopting new platforms or migrating, and offer a contract-to-perm route for firms cautious about permanent headcount.
Industrial and blue-collar staffing - temp is the lead. Use new-site and seasonal-peak signals, and build a multi-site account list so one conversation covers several locations.
Finance and accounting perm desk - Accounting/Financial was one of only two sectors with rising perm vacancies [1]. Narrow the ICP to growing finance teams and press the advantage before competitors notice.
Retail and hospitality recruiter - the report shows the steepest drops in both perm and temp demand here [1]. Move BD hours towards adjacent sectors with rising demand instead of working harder on a shrinking list.
Regional agency in the North of England - temp billings were led by the North while perm placements fell there [1]. Bias BD towards temp in the region, and keep perm BD for London-based or remote-friendly clients.
London-based generalist - perm rose in London and near a four-year high in the July edition [3]. Hold perm BD steady, and add temp for clients with project-based needs.
360 consultants - one person, two desks. Give them separate ICP lists and a fixed weekly split, so the louder of the two does not eat the other.

Manual BD vs Signal-Led BD in a Two-Speed Market

Task	Manual approach	Signal-led approach with boilr
Finding perm targets	Job boards and LinkedIn scrolling after roles are posted	Funding, executive-move and hiring signals matched to your ICP [6]
Finding temp targets	Cold lists, with little sense of timing	Custom triggers (for example new sites or multi-turn signals) tuned for volume demand [6]
Qualifying accounts	Gut feel per consultant	Scoring against criteria such as industry, headcount, region, funding stage and hiring velocity [7]
Contacting the right person	Manual decision-maker search	Verified decision-maker with contact details and reasons to reach out [7]
Outreach	Same template for every desk	Ready-to-send Task with a suggested angle; the consultant edits and sends [8]
Shared knowledge	In individual heads and inboxes	Company Brain keeps desk learnings when people leave [8]

How boilr Powers the Rebalance

boilr is your AI sales employee for recruitment, one per consultant, trained on that consultant's desk [8]. For a perm and temp rebalance, these are the modules that matter:

Signals - funding rounds, new hires, executive moves, multi-turn signals and tech migration, plus custom triggers, scanned across 10,000+ sources. boilr states signals arrive on average 48 to 72 hours before a role is posted publicly [6].
Custom triggers - build the temp-specific triggers (new site, contract win, volume hiring) as separate rules from the perm ones.
ICP - set it once, with industry, headcount, region, funding stage, hiring velocity and tech stack, plus an exclusion list [7]. Run one ICP per desk.
Companies - matched accounts arrive enriched with size, industry, funding stage, the triggering signal with a source link, and a suggested first-touch angle [7].
Tasks - each signal becomes a ready-to-send Task in your inbox, with context and a suggested message [8].
Company Brain - shared agency knowledge that grows with every task sent and stays when people leave [8]. Your learnings about which signals convert for temp versus perm stay with the agency.
Integrations - plugs into your CRM, calendar and inbox [8], so desk data stays where your team already works.

What stays human

Pricing and margin - rates, terms of business and temp margins are your decision.
Relationships - boilr drafts; the consultant reviews, edits and sends, and the final call is yours [8].
Which desk to back - the allocation call is a commercial judgement made from your own numbers.
Candidate and worker supply - the report shows temp supply is tighter than perm supply [1], so winning temp orders only pays if the desk can fill them.

Want to see signals separated by desk on your own ICP? Book a demo or start with boilr.

Common Mistakes When Rebalancing

Over-reading one month - perm placements rose "marginally" in a single survey month [1]. Wait for a second and third datapoint before cutting a desk.
Forgetting fill capacity - temp growth with scarce temp candidates [1] means unfilled orders and damaged client trust.
One outreach sequence for both - a perm MD and a temp operations manager read different messages.
Ignoring conversion between desks - temp clients are your warmest perm pipeline when confidence returns.
Using national data for local decisions - regions and sectors diverge sharply in the report [1].
Hiring a second BD person to fix a prioritisation problem - fix the targeting first.

A 30-Day Rebalance Plan

Week	Action	Output
Week 1	Pull two quarters of BD hours, meetings and wins per desk; write separate perm and temp ICPs	Baseline and two ICP documents
Week 2	Configure desk-specific signals and exclusion lists; flag shared accounts	Two signal feeds, one cross-sell list
Week 3	Shift one or two BD blocks to the stronger desk; send the first signal-led Tasks per desk	First measurable meetings by desk
Week 4	Run the first per-desk pipeline review; adjust scoring and allocation	Decision on the next six-week allocation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the permanent market actually recovering?

It is stabilising rather than recovering. Permanent placements rose marginally in August, the first increase since September 2022, but total demand for staff still fell for a 34th month and permanent vacancies kept falling [1]. Treat it as an improving base, not a boom.

Should I move perm consultants onto temp BD?

Not wholesale. Temp BD needs different signals, different decision-makers and different margins. A better route is to give a small group a defined temp ICP, shared accounts and separate metrics, and keep the rest focused on perm where the market is turning.

Which signals work best for temp desks?

Volume and delivery triggers: new sites or expansions, contract or tender wins, repeated postings of the same title across locations and seasonal patterns. Funding and executive moves are more useful for perm. boilr supports custom triggers so you can tune them per desk [6].

How do I measure BD on a temp desk differently?

Use days from signal to first order, active contractors on assignment, fill rate, gross margin per assignment and extension rates. Perm desks track qualified briefs, mandate type and brief-to-shortlist ratios instead.

Does this data apply outside the UK?

The KPMG/REC survey covers around 400 UK consultancies [1]. Use it as a directional read for DACH or wider EU desks, and check your own pipeline and local data before reallocating effort.

Can I rebalance BD without hiring more people?

Yes, if prioritisation is the bottleneck. Signal detection, ICP filtering and enrichment can be automated so consultants spend BD time on conversations. boilr produces ready-to-send Tasks that the consultant reviews and sends [8].

How quickly should I expect results?

BD cycles are slow, so judge a rebalance on meetings and qualified conversations after about six weeks, not on placements. Check the per-desk metrics weekly so you can see early movement on each desk.

What if temp demand falls back?

Reallocating in small steps keeps the move reversible. Keep the perm ICP and signals running at a lower intensity, review weekly, and rely on the per-desk metrics rather than headline survey direction.

Sources

Information sourced from public industry reports and boilr.ai product pages as of October 2026.

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