Soundbites

04-Mar-2009

David Gill
Managing director,
Headway Recruitment “I saw the scenes at the Mini car plant on the 10 o’clock news last week and must admit I felt ashamed for the recruitment industry. Yes, they portrayed us in the worst possible light — but the bottom line is you should not be able to treat workers like this. Not after they have worked for you through an agency, in many cases for several years. It will hasten the implementation of the European Agency Workers Directive in my opinion.”

Toby Thwaites
Director, Purple
“I think that this situation highlights what people are generally realising themselves — that working in temporary or short-term contracts in this climate is risky. The risk needs to be weighed up with the benefits of working in such a flexible way when you decide to take a job of that nature. We’ve recently seen significant numbers of long-term freelancers trying to find permanent employment in order to feel more secure and at least ensure a reasonable level of compensation should they then have to take redundancy.”

Oliver Symons
Senior consultant, Progressive
“I don’t believe the public perception of agency workers will change a great deal. There is a general understanding that although the rights of agency workers are minimal the relaxed employment contracts also benefit the employee. Just one advantage of being an agency worker is that the individual can step in to a job role within 24 hours of leaving their previous role. It is a form of employment many individuals prefer as it gives not only themselves but also their employer flexibility.”

Would you like to be a contributor to Soundbites?
Email vanessa.townsend@centaur.co.uk