Employers deliver jobs boost for chancellor
18 June 2014
Employers deliver a jobs boost for the chancellor today, with the proportion intending to hire more permanent staff remaining at a record high.
Wed, 18 Jun 2014Employers deliver a jobs boost for the chancellor today, with the proportion intending to hire more permanent staff remaining at a record high.
Eight out of 10 companies (81%) told the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) May JobsOutlook survey they were planning new hires within the next three months.
And there’s further evidence of improving business confidence, with almost half (46%) saying they would be calling up agencies for more temps.
Similar figures for employers’ recruitment intentions over the next four to 12 months suggest a period of stability for UK business.
REC head of policy Kate Shoesmith says: “Business confidence continues to grow, and it is excellent news to see employers planning to hire more people on permanent contracts for the rest of 2014.”
George Osborne has pinned much of his recovery hopes on small- and medium-sized enterprises. So a surge in plans to use agency workers by ‘micro-businesses’ of 1-10 employees, from a net balance of a quarter in April to one-third in May, will be particularly welcome news for the Treasury.
One looming problem is that skill shortages are becoming more apparent.
The REC says: “Two out of the three top areas of anticipated shortage of agency workers (technical/engineering and professional/managerial) match the areas of forecast shortfalls in permanent candidate availability. This suggests an acute need for these skills.”
But there’s good news for recruitment agencies from the 600 employers questioned in the survey. Almost nine in 10 employers said they were satisfied with the calibre of candidates presented by agencies.
Shoesmith says this satisfaction is “testament to the hard work of recruiters”, despite the skill shortages taking hold in many sectors.
Eight out of 10 companies (81%) told the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) May JobsOutlook survey they were planning new hires within the next three months.
And there’s further evidence of improving business confidence, with almost half (46%) saying they would be calling up agencies for more temps.
Similar figures for employers’ recruitment intentions over the next four to 12 months suggest a period of stability for UK business.
REC head of policy Kate Shoesmith says: “Business confidence continues to grow, and it is excellent news to see employers planning to hire more people on permanent contracts for the rest of 2014.”
George Osborne has pinned much of his recovery hopes on small- and medium-sized enterprises. So a surge in plans to use agency workers by ‘micro-businesses’ of 1-10 employees, from a net balance of a quarter in April to one-third in May, will be particularly welcome news for the Treasury.
One looming problem is that skill shortages are becoming more apparent.
The REC says: “Two out of the three top areas of anticipated shortage of agency workers (technical/engineering and professional/managerial) match the areas of forecast shortfalls in permanent candidate availability. This suggests an acute need for these skills.”
But there’s good news for recruitment agencies from the 600 employers questioned in the survey. Almost nine in 10 employers said they were satisfied with the calibre of candidates presented by agencies.
Shoesmith says this satisfaction is “testament to the hard work of recruiters”, despite the skill shortages taking hold in many sectors.
