Almost seven in 10 recruiters anticipate a shortage in temporary agency labour over Christmas, according to research from de Poel, a procurer of temporary labour agency.

The agency predicts that 29% more temporary workers will be used in the run up to Christmas alone, while 42% of recruiters expect a lack of available logistics sector temporary workers and 24% predict a dearth of care workers.

Matthew Sanders, chief executive of de Poel, says: “In October the government confirmed there would be no changes to the Agency Workers Regulations that will be coming into force in 2011, which gives temporary agency workers the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks in a job. We hope that this will encourage more people to consider temporary agency labour as an alternative to permanent work, while still being able to get the same benefits.”