Multi-sector recruiter Hays has been fined £30m for price fixing. The company was among six recruitment firms fined £39.27m by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) at the end of last month for price-fixing and the collective boycott of another company in supplying candidates to the construction industry.
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The biggest story in recruitment over the last two weeks is a tragedy in many respects. The Office of Fair Trading’s finding that eight recruitment companies had conspired to fix prices and its imposition of fines ranging from thousands to millions of pounds leaves us all a bit diminished perhaps as recruiters strive to improve the industry’s image to the rest of the business world.
International recruiter Hays has launched an iPhone application that allows users to search all available jobs on hays.co.uk site. The app enables users to search for roles by keyword, to view job specs, then apply online. Users need only upload their CVs once; they will then be able to apply for multiple roles without the need to keep re-submitting their CV.
The construction recruiters fined £39.27m by the OFT last September could be quizzed for bringing the industry into disrepute. Tom Hadley, external relations director at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), told Recruiter that the firms, who were fined for operating a cartel, could be questioned by the REC.
IT recruiter Abraxas has been rebranded as Randstad Technologies.
The move emphasises the firm’s connection to parent company Randstad and is the latest rebrand of companies that previously sat in the Vedior stable of recruitment firms.
Neutral vendor and workforce management company the Albany Group has been making the headlines in recent weeks.
Permanent placement numbers have risen at its fastest pace for two years, according to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs. The report reveals a third consecutive month of growth in both permanent placements and temp billings during October, marking the sharpest rise in two years and 16 months respectively.
Most employers now use social networking sites to screen candidates with almost half claming that what they had viewed on such sites had caused them to think twice about hiring a candidate, according to a survey from CareerBuilder.co.uk. Around 43% of employers said what they had seen on social networking sites had caused them not to hire the candidate.
Neutral vendor and workforce management company the Albany Group has apologised for any inconvenience or financial hardship to staffing companies and contractors after admitting that a £3m factoring facility for three of its UK companies has been withdrawn.