Wed, 24 Sep 2014An increasing number of businesses are using temporary workers to plug skills gaps, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) monthly JobsOutlook report, published today.

It found 79% of employers were using agency workers to provide short-term access to strategic skills.

REC chief executive Kevin Green said that trend was likely to continue as it was becoming increasingly difficult to source the skilled permanent staff that businesses needed to grow.

“There is some great news here for our industry as recruiters continue to successfully adapt to the challenge of skills shortages, with more than nine out of 10 employers reporting they are satisfied with the quality of candidates they are being provided by recruiters.”

The report also found:

• Redundancies, headcount freezes and pay/hours cuts have halved since last August, showing increased stability in the jobs market

• Nine in 10 employers plan to hire permanent staff in the next three months

• 89% of employers plan to increase their permanent staff in the next three months

• 78% of employers plan increase their permanent staff in the next four to 12 months

• 43% plan to increase temp staff in the next three months

• 40% plan to increase temp staff in the next four to 12 months.

The report was based on a survey of 600 employers.

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