The REC is concerned that the government’s proposed immigration cap will lead to a greater skills shortage in certain sectors. However, this has annoyed some contractors who feel threatened by cheap labour from outside the EU.
IntaPeople, an IT recruitment company has warned that key IT personnel, including those working through umbrella companies, will resign from the public sector and secure better opportunities elsewhere.
Both the BCC and the CBI have hit out at the coalition’s proposal to abolish the default retirement age from April 2011. The BCC’s director of policy, Adam Marshall, says this will restrict the ability of businesses to manage their workforce.
The government has announced that they will once again look at whether a general anti-avoidance rule should be introduced as a measure to deter limited company tax evaders.
The FSB had urged George Osborne to give small businesses time to implement any changes to the VAT rate and he did indeed do so in his budget speech yesterday.
The British Chamber of Commerce has warned George Osborne to tread carefully with his plans to increase taxes in today’s budget. UK umbrella companies will also be watching with interest.
Welcome news for temporary workers and freelancers comes in the form of the REC’s JobsOutlook report for June and the ONS.
HMRC recently issued a statement to remind people of the need to complete their VAT procedures online if they have an annual turnover in excess of £100,000 or registered for VAT after the first of April this year.
George Osborne is due to give his emergency budget on June 22nd and it seems everybody wants to give him advice! Any measure introduced could affect umbrella companies.
The KPMG and REC’s latest Report on jobs shows that recruitment demand for IT contractors has dropped for the 3rd consecutive month, whilst demand in all other sectors is rising.
Umbrella company contractors working in the public sector can take comfort from recent comments made by Sir Peter Gershon. Gershon has already published a review into public sector efficiency in the UK and he was a special adviser to the Tories during the run up to the recent election.
Morale is currently low at HMRC and employees have now been warned that they are in for tough times ahead. Chief Executive, Lesley Strathie, informed staff that they need to be realistic about the challenges they face.
The coalition promised to cut the amount of red tape that umbrella companies and contractors are subjected to and yesterday Vince Cable announced the first stage of the plan.
A decrease in IT budgets could mean that contractors are expected to work harder this year. ReThink Recuitment conducted a study that shows that two thirds of decision makers in IT think workloads will increase over the remaining months of 2010.
Ten of thousands of people, including contractors and freelancers, have been affected by the tax coding problems caused when HMRC migrated their records to a new computer system earlier this year.
Employers and recruiters are becoming more optimistic and their confidence levels have reached their highest level this year, which could benefit those working through umbrella companies.
