Umbrella company contractors could find they have to compete against more people in order to secure a role after Adrian Marlowe suggested that temporary work is becoming a more attractive option for jobseekers.
The ARC’s chairman said that the traditional idea of people seeking permanent employment as soon as they leave education is now outdated. The agency workers regulations have created a level playing field with respect to equal pay and working conditions and this makes agency work an attractive alternative to permanent employment. People working on a temporary basis through recruitment agencies already enjoy significant advantages, such as flexibility, that are not open to their permanent counterparts.
Graduate unemployment has hit the IT sector hardest over the past year, according to the Higher Education Careers Service Unit. Unemployment amongst IT graduates rose from 13.7% in 2008 to 16.3% last year and could lead to an increase in the number of skilled IT people choosing to go self-employed.
Despite this, Richard Nott from CWJobs.co.uk claims there are not enough skilled IT staff. Although the current figures show a lot of graduates have been unable to secure a position due to current market conditions, the underlying trend still shows a lack of graduates with the right skill set to fit the world of IT.
Of the people who graduated in 2009, 8.9% or just over 21,000 were still without a job in January this year, registering the highest rate of graduate unemployment since 1993.
A survey conducted by Orange found that 10% of graduates planned to start up their own business as soon as they graduated. 69% of graduates want the chance of flexible working and nearly half say the opportunity to work remotely is no longer a privilege; it is a must.
This sentiment is shared by the general working populace with 68% saying that working from home was an important element of job satisfaction.
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