Umbrella company contractors will no doubt be relieved to learn that confidence is improving amongst small business owners.
However, the latest Voice of Small Business index from the FSB shows that, although confidence is up, SMEs are failing to take on new staff.
Youth unemployment is at record highs thanks in part to the public sector spending cuts, the UK is relying on the private sector to create employment opportunities. The FSB index discovered that a small proportion of SMEs plan to decrease their workforce in the coming three months.
The FSB wants the coalition to take more measures to help small firms. It would like to see the NICs holiday extended to micro-businesses. Such a move would help the smallest firms take on more staff, especially in areas where the reliance on public sector employment is high.
The latest JobsOutlook from the REC shows that only 23% of employers intend to increase their permanent workforce over the next quarter. A further 64% intend to maintain permanent staffing levels at their current level.
At the same time, 93% intend to either increase or maintain their current usage of temporary workers in the short term and 81% say this is also a long term plan.
Roger Tweedy, the REC’s director of research, said these figures show that the UK has a transitional jobs market at the moment. Confidence about hiring is the same as it was last month and businesses are still relying on temps and contractors.
Looking further ahead, trade and investment in the private sector should start to accelerate in the second half of 2011 but until then there will be signs of volatility in the jobs market.
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Image: Little People In A Row by left-hand
