The latest employment statistics from the ONS showed a rise in the number of people who are working and this rise is in part attributable to an increase in the number of umbrella company contractors.
The CIPD commented on the latest figures saying that although these are the best figures since the beginning of the recession, none of the net new jobs were permanent full-time positions. They were all either temporary, part-time or taken up by self-employed individuals.
Recruitment finance specialist, Edward Winterton from Bibby Financial Services, is concerned by the increase in the number of part-time workers. There are now 7.82 million people working part-time in the UK, the highest amount since records started to be kept in 1992. Part-time workers now make up more than 25% of the UK’s workforce.
Although unemployment decreased by 34,000 to 2.47 million, more and more people now have to accept part-time employment in order to keep themselves away from the dole queue.
Winterton pointed out that competition for jobs is getting harder due to public sector job cuts and recruitment agencies are coming under increased pressure to place more candidates in fewer jobs.
Therefore the private sector must grow in order to counterbalance the job losses that are occurring in the public sector.
He also believes that the situation is going to get worse over the next few months and recruiters need to be in a strong financial position to get over any difficulties. By ensuring alternative cash flow solutions are available, such as invoice financing, recruitment agencies can protect themselves against unexpected costs and allow their business to move forward.
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