Looking back on 2011 I would say that that the past 12 months have been busy ones for the recruitment industry. We have seen and implemented the Agency Workers Regulations and figures show that the flexible workers market is up 20% year-on-year, which will have kept all of us busy.

Now as we gaze into 2012, the big question on everyone’s mind is why is unemployment so high and what can be done to stimulate job creation and spark growth in the economy — and what can we in the recruitment industry do to help?

I am optimistic and feel that the rest of the country and the recruitment industry as a whole should share my optimism, as there are definitely jobs out there. I see evidence of this every day in our branches all over the country. It is true to say that some industries are creating more than others; retail is showing a rise in recruiting as is the top end of engineering. But the latest youth unemployment figures which top the 1m mark for NEETS [those not in education, employment or training] are a cause for concern.

A way that we as recruiters can help to improve employment is to reinvest all the time. The Pertemps Network group of companies have made acquisitions and merged with 20 companies in recent months. This is no mean feat and some would say a bold or brave move, but I believe that taking the profits and reinvesting them in other businesses is a shrewd move, not only for the state of employment in Britain but also for the recruitment industry as a whole.

“Taking the profits and reinvesting them in other businesses is a shrewd move, not only for the state of employment in Britain but also for the recruitment industry as a whole”

In these difficult times these mergers and acquisitions are helping companies by allowing them to retain their operational independence and brand, while allowing them to adapt to a changing market and enabling them to offer new services to their clients, which they may not have had the resources to do in the past. In these difficult times the partnership and consolidation model could become attractive to other recruitment business teams and individuals who want to join a growing and stable network.

The other thing that recruiters can do over the coming 12 months is to help the NEETS and those out of work by assisting them in getting the skills they need to get jobs.

There are massive gaps out there with people having not been taught the basic skills needed to get a job, such as how to write a CV, how to present themselves in an interview, questions that might be asked and essential office skills. Working in the recruitment industry, we are in a prime position to help these people and furnish them with the skills that they need to venture out into the world of work for the first time or to regain their confidence upon returning to the workplace.

Pertemps considers this part of our helping hand as an investment for the future.

The way that Pertemps is trying to assist with this is that we are currently trialling an apprenticeship scheme across some of our branches, which if successful we will roll out nationwide next year. These apprenticeships are designed to give people administration skills to set them on the path to work and give them the foundations needed on which to build a career.

It is predicted that employment will improve by 1% in 2012, which some say isn’t much, but an improvement — any improvement — is better than a decline. If all companies did their bit we could help solve the problem of unemployment in Britain.

However, if one third of Britain’s 3.5m SMEs [small and mediumsized enterprises] were able to employ just one more person all the UK’s problems would be solved immediately.

The key for a successful year in the coming 12 months is to embrace and accept change. In my 40 years in the industry the only thing that has remained constant is the fact that things continuously change. It is how we manage that change that matters and will see our industry through the coming months.

Tim Watts is chairman of Pertemps