The latest JobsOutlook from the REC shows that the overall jobs outlook is still mixed, but in the short to medium term, employers are making more use of temporary agency workers and contractors.
The controversy regarding the Agency Workers Directive continues, as in fact it is likely to so do for some time to come. Although the AWD does not come into force until next October, the recruitment industry is already starting to prepare for implementation.
Despite the decline in demand last month, the ICT sector is still looking healthy, according to the REC’s latest Report on Jobs.
The services sector showed modest growth last month, according to the most recent Markit/CIPS Business Activity Index.
Umbrella company contractors will be pleased to hear that the first two quarters of this year saw a 9% increase in the use of interim managers, according to the latest Ipsos MORI survey findings, and 52% of all interim assignments were in the private sector.
New data released recently by the Office for National Statistics illustrate that the current rates of unemployment in the country have dropped by an additional 8,000 people for the months of May, June, and July.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has issued a call to contract recruitment agencies, umbrella companies, and the clients they do business with to exercise caution when developing alternative worker policies.
The REC is holding a series of regional workshops around the country to help its members understand how the Agency Workers Regulations will impact their business.
Recruitment agencies supplying staff to hospitals have hit back at the unions who claim that recruiters are charging outrageous fees.
On Wednesday, the ONS revealed that unemployment in the UK had fallen for the second consecutive month, but candidates and employers still remain cautious.
Demand for contractors dropped in July according to the latest Report on jobs from the REC. This fall is mainly attributed to public sector cuts.
The current employment environment should be encouraging entrepreneurship among Britons according to the REC.
The coalition is considering scrapping the default retirement age as from October next year.
The REC’s Technology sector group recently invited London 2012 Head of Recruitment, Paul Modley, to speak about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead during the countdown to the Olympic Games.
On Tuesday the government published their proposed amendments to the travel and subsistence expenses scheme for workers receiving the National Minimum Wage.
De Poel, the temporary procurement agency, says that industry ambassadors and the British press need to get their facts right in light of rumours that the coalition government intends to water down some of the Agency Workers Regulations.
