'Talent war' pushing white-collar pay higher, British recruiter says

* Robert Waters says trading above market expectations

* Co reports surge in HY earnings on hiring rebound

* COVID impacting mobility of talent

By Chris Peters

July 27 (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened a
shortage of white-collar workers in many countries, forcing
companies to pay higher salaries to woo talent, a top
London-based recruiter said on Tuesday.

Robert Walters - which specialises in the likes of
accountants, legal and tech staff - said demand was outstripping
supply in many of its 31 markets globally including the United
States, the UK and Japan, as hiring in the last six months had
sped up.

"A war for talent and significant wage inflation is
beginning to emerge," Robert Walters' eponymous chief executive
said in a statement accompanying the group's first-half results,
though he didn't specify what level of pay rises the company was
seeing.

Walters' remarks on higher salaries align with stories of
pay hikes by European lenders Deutsche Bank and UBS
and at Wall Streets banks, while data https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/03/us-jobs-report-june-trend
has shown more people are changing jobs or quitting following
months of uncertainty during lockdowns.

While the pandemic slowed hiring for much of 2020, it also
hit immigration levels, making it challenging for businesses to
fill vacant posts and often tilting salary conversations at
companies in favour of valued existing employees and incoming
candidates.

As hiring speeds up further, Robert Walters said it was
performing above market expectations for the year ending
December. Its pretax profit rose to 22.1 million pounds ($30
million) in the six months ended June, a 6% rise from pre-COVID
levels and a 414% surge from a year earlier.

It also announced a 20% increase in its fist-half dividend
to 5.4 pence a share.

"Activity levels (are the) highest in London and across
commerce finance, legal and technology," Robert Walters said of
its UK operations.

The company and its British rivals, SThree,
PageGroup and Hays Plc, have all raised
financial expectations in recent weeks as economies reopen and
companies hire again.

Shares in Robert Walters were little changed in early
trading on Tuesday, having risen more than 50% since the start
of the year. By comparison, the UK's FTSE 250 index of
mid-sized companies is up 12% in the same period.

($1 = 0.7258 pounds)
(Reporting by Chris Peters and Muvija M in Bengaluru
Editing by David Holmes)