The four desks
4 desks
A desk is one job market worked as a craft: its own cycle times, its own fee norms, its own scarcity. These four profiles say what makes each market different, wired to the live figures from IPMERC Futures.
ICT, all rolesThe fastest market: two fee models, candidate-driven processes, uneven scarcity.Divergent / 2026-Q3Business and professional servicesCredential-gated, formal decision-making, and a fee model that climbs to retained.Easing from a tight base / 2026-Q3Engineering and technicalRegional candidates, technical credibility, and niches where the Spec Send rules.Easing from a tight base / 2026-Q3Healthcare and careStructural scarcity, registers and cao's, and a permanently candidate-side desk.Persistently tight / 2026-Q3