Positive end to 2012 with record fall in unemployment

It might be clichéd to say, but figures released this week from the Office for National Statistics are sure to bring good tidings to job seekers this Christmas, with the greatest quarterly fall in jobless figures since 2001.

A promising piece of news at last; largely due to a steady improvement in the jobs market over the past three months, as well as an overall increase in employer confidence.

The data is certainly encouraging for businesses, reflected in a slow but sure narrowing of the gap between employer demand and supply both nationally and locally. Recent reports show that there are now more positions than candidates available in the IT sector, which is something that we have experienced first hand here at ACR. Last month, we launched a recruitment drive in response to record rises in the number of IT roles available locally, holding a dedicated open day at our offices to identify suitable candidates with the right skills.

Also relevant to our own work in Peterborough was the statement made by the REC’s chief executive Kevin Green, who stressed the importance of temporary and part-time workers in contributing to the recent economic development. To echo this, I - along with the rest of the team - have always recognised the need for flexible working hours for both clients and candidates. This is why we have staff dedicated solely to temporary and interim placements, with demand continuing to grow.

As 2013 approaches, we’ll be working harder than ever to support and contribute to this growth locally. We certainly believe the overall findings of the latest national figures are reflected here in Peterborough and hope the positivity generated helps push the local economy forward into the New Year and beyond.

Children in Need challenge!

We’re all still feeling slightly full here today!

For the third year running we held our Pudsey Bake Off challenge, in aid of Children in Need.

Every member of the team cooked up their signature dish and brought it into the office – unnamed!

They were all left in the kitchen and everyone who came into our Park Road office was offered the opportunity to sample as many dishes as they liked – in exchange for a donation.

Votes were then cast and, at the end of the day, the winner announced. 

I admit to being a rather proud previous winner of the title but the 2012 winner was Recruitment Partner Jo Copeland. Well done Jo!

Salary survey shows businesses are exercising caution

No news is good news, apparently, Certainly in the case of this year’s local Salary Survey that is the case.

Last year there was a levelling out of salary increments following two or three years of quite severe dips and troughs across different industries.

But this year’s Peterborough Local Market Survey, which we produce in partnership with specialist reward consultants PayData Ltd, shows a ‘cautious’ response to the economic conditions.

While a quarter of participants revealed they had frozen pay, the survey revealed an overall average 2.5 per cent rise in salaries over the past 12 months.

That suggests a plateau has been reached. Rather than companies trying to bring salary levels back in line or attract staff in certain areas, they now seem to be rewarding loyalty and hard work while keeping one eye on costs.

There are always the odd discrepancies in this type of survey. Advanced accounts clerks have notched up around 12 per cent extra in their pay packets while marketing assistants, IT assistants and production managers have noticed a small slip. But having studied the results, I suspect these blips could be more related to the shift in our sample. Some new businesses signed up to take part in this year’s salary which is always good news.

The survey is such a valuable benchmarking tool - one which has been part of the business landscape for 15 years – it is good to see the continuing involvement of some big names.

We are now working on the production of an interim report, concentrating on pay rises, to be produced in the new year. If you would like to take part do get in touch with us.

By participating in the full survey next year your company is entitled to see the entire results document. There is also the option to receive a comparison of your results against those of others.

ACR team offers help to future doctors and tattoo artists!

With so much talk about high levels of youth unemployment it was an absolute pleasure to see enthusiasm and ambition is still prevalent among young people.

Six of our team took part in an event organised by the Rotary Club of Peterborough, aimed at giving youngsters an opportunity to try out their interview skills in a formal environment.

The year 11 students from Kings School had to submit a CV with covering letter and then spend half an hour with one of our recruitment partners, talking about their chosen career path, answering questions and demonstrating their knowledge.

We gave them feedback at the end of the session and also provided written feedback to the school to give them a focus for future career discussion.

It was brilliant to hear of the diverse plans the 15 and 16 year olds had. Among the careers they are working towards were doctor, teacher, vet, figure skater, actor, pr and tattoo artist!

The standard overall was very high with the students presenting themselves well, communicating clearly and demonstrating a good level of background knowledge.

We were able to suggest tweaks to CVs and covering letters which, we hope, will give the students some valuable advice to call on in the future.

In total, around 150 students were given the benefit of professional advice. That’s 150 youngsters who have got that scary first interview out of the way and can now face job and university interviews with the benefit of experience!

Breakfast seminar success

It was, as always, wonderful to see so many of you willing to suffer an extra early start in order to attend our annual employment law breakfast briefing.

It is testament to the quality of information passed on by the experts from our partners Hegarty LLP Solicitors that we, once again, scored a record attendance at the event at the East of England Showground.

I’m sure Martin Bloom, Tim Thompson and Emma Carter will forgive me for saying the subject matter can sometimes be a little dry, But, by using case law and their own experiences, they manage to make the information both accessible and incredibly useful.

One of the key points this time was the change in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal introduced in April this year. The government has been keen to reduce the amount of tax payers’ money spent on industrial tribunals. In a bid to do that, it has increased the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one year to two.

This means a company can dismiss an employee at any time during their first two years of employment without fear of comeback.

There are always exceptions of course. Under the Equality Act 2012 there is no qualifying period for claims of discrimination. So, someone dismissed within the two year qualifying period could still claim discrimination and that could still lead to a tribunal. For that reason, Tim believes the move may not necessarily make much of a dent in the volume of claims. I’m sure he’ll keep us posted in the effect the change has at future updates.

The presentations also covered bonuses, a contentious issue in many companies, and a case law update. 

These are particularly useful illustrating, as they do, the real life interpretation of important HR legislation we all make it our business to be aware of.

Do let us know by emailing info@annecorder.co.uk if you wish to be kept informed of future events – or if you’d like to suggest topics to be covered.

Unemployment crawling in the right direction

The drop in the UK’s unemployment rate by 0.1 per cent represents a crawl in the right direction rather than a freefall – but at least it is the right direction. And it represents an ongoing downward trend which can only be positive.

Levels of unemployment are still high at 8.1 per cent and they do also need some clarifying. For instance, the number of people out of work for more than a year stands at the highest for 16 years and the number of people working part time hours is the highest since records started in 1992 at 8.12 million. Around 1.42 million of those are working part time hours because they can’t secure a full time post.

However, the overall figures do reflect the resilience of the current labour market, while also suggesting that those companies operating in the private sector are perhaps more confident than many commentators are suggesting.

Certainly we’re finding locally that the recruitment market is improving in specific areas. In particular, local businesses in the engineering sector are on the hunt for new staff in a number of different departments. And smaller IT companies are obviously coping with larger work loads as there has been an increase in demand for those with IT sales and web developer experience. Interestingly, that reflects the national situation in those industries.

Even cautious employers are hanging on to staff, obviously anticipating an upturn so making it financially worthwhile to pay staff through the lean times rather than go to the expense of re-recruiting in the near future.

It does feel that these two elements of the market are shoring up the continuing poor performances in the public sector and industries including construction and hospitality leading to the almost static overall figure.

Bonus payments, tribunals and bacon butties

The finishing touches are being put to the plans for this year’s employment law breakfast briefing.

As usual it means an early start for the ACR team, but one that always feels worth setting the alarm clock for!

Presenters Martin Bloom and Tim Thompson will be joined for the second year by their colleague from Hegarty LLP Emma Carter. All three are experts in their field ensuring that delegates receive the most up to date information. Martin’s role as an employment tribunal judge gives him a valuable insight into the most frequently occurring issues and the challenges employers face which makes him the ideal person to address a room full of HR professionals.

The subjects on this year’s agenda are bonus payments and the proposed changes to employment tribunals. 

There will also be discussions around case law and recent changes to employment law legislation.

The seminar has grown in popularity over the 15 years or so we’ve been holding it. We now have well over 130 companies represented and around 200 attendees who, we like to think, don’t only come for the bacon butties and coffee!

If you haven’t booked your place, there are a few seats left so do get in touch. The date for your diary is Thursday, September 20 with registration starting at 7.30am.

Recruiters from ACR inspired by the Olympics

We may not be as fit as Jessica Ennis or as fast as Mo Farrah but there was a lot of Olympic inspired enthusiasm when I suggested to the team we came in early to work and walked to the local park and back one morning.

We’ve signed up to take part in the Starlight Hike in September – a 10km midnight walk in aid of Sue Ryder Care so this was the perfect training session.

This is all part of ACR’s 2012 Wellbeing Initiative, designed to encourage the team to make their health and wellbeing a priority.

We’re doing our bit as an agency, providing fruit baskets rather than biscuit tins in the office and introducing healthy eating days.

This was everyone’s chance to take their fitness into their own hands.

So we opened the office early for everyone to change into their trainers and then set off at a fair old pace down to Central Park, round the perimeter and back again.

Waiting in the office was an Olympic sized breakfast including fruit, yoghurt and muesli.

Walking isn’t a team sport but getting together to do it made it feel like one. We talked the walk away and came back full of fresh air and energy. I exercise regularly but that didn’t stop me feeling the benefits and everyone else said the same.

There has now been a commitment made to hold regular power walking sessions in preparation for the charity walk.

If you feel able to support our efforts financially, please visit our Virgin moneygiving page: 

Evening of excellence

Guest blog from Nel Woolcott

  

I was delighted to represent ACR at this year’s Peterborough Regional College award ceremony last night.

We have sponsored the business student categories for the last few years and it’s always an excellent evening.

There have been some first class guests at the awards in the past and this year was no exception. Peterborough’s own secret millionaire Mike Greene took to the stage and he was nothing short of inspirational. He’s a self made man and was one of those people who just naturally commands respect.

But of course the evening is about the students and their achievements.

It was fantastic to see so many enthusiastic, talented youngsters at the ceremony and to hear the glowing testimonials from their lecturers. From business to plumbing, accountancy to hairdressing, these are the people who are going to shape the future of Peterborough.

I was delighted to announce Justyna Sapeta, best full time business and management centre student and Martin Brunt, best part time business and management centre student. Both are, rightly, very proud of coming out top of their classes. They have lots of plans for their future and we’ve invited them to visit us at our Park Road offices to see if we can help them forward those. I shall certainly enjoy those conversations.

There were a lot of business people at the awards and, chatting to them afterwards, the overriding opinion was that with students like this entering the city’s workplaces the future looks bright!

Employment Law Briefing -Social Networking and the Workplace

I’m just back in the office following our Employment Law Briefing and I’m half way through drawing up a list of action points on the back of it!

The briefing, organised in partnership with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, was on the subject of Social Networking and the Workplace.

We know this is an area of concern for many employers in the city by the huge response we had to invitations.

From my point of view, it is the pace of change on the internet and of social networking platforms that creates so many challenges. And that was echoed by our speaker Martin Bloom, a very experienced employment law expert.

As he said, five years ago, the kind of cases tribunals are dealing with now were unthinkable. People dismissed for posting comments about clients on Facebook, issues over ownership of connections on LinkedIn, cyber bullying of former colleagues on Twitter… even that sentence would have meant very little a decade ago!

Martin touched a chord with many delegates – myself included – when he mentioned the importance of a company having a social networking policy. An internet usage policy isn’t enough.

Every employer needs to have a well thought out, detailed and regularly reviewed policy governing the use of social media at work. This needs to be written into contracts and – vitally – employees need to be trained in it.

The easiest solution may be to ban the use of social networking in work time on work equipment completely. You may also need to consider the rules you wish to set governing people using their personal mobile phones to access Facebook or Twitter, for instance, during their working day.

Of course, in some sectors, the use of such websites is necessary. In those cases, policies need to be even more specific. And again, training needs to reflect that.

Martin discussed a number of cases of inappropriate use of Facebook and emails out of hours – employees discussing clients, employees emailing former colleagues – which had resulted in employment tribunals.

Again, these issues are all relatively new and the law, courts and tribunals are having to evolve around them. Many employers are playing catch up with their staff on this but thought must be given to getting ahead.

I’d be interested to hear the stance other employers take on the use of social networking. Feel free to leave a comment.

Salary Survey 2012

The Salary Survey was one of the first ‘added value’ services we launched back in the early days of ACR. It is testament to its usefulness that it is still going strong 15 years later.

And the 2012 survey is being launched this week.

Our partners at Paydata Ltd are currently sending out the questionnaires to a number of companies in the region, big and small, from a wide range of sectors.

The data provided on the salary and benefits of hundreds of employees will be collated, analysed and used to produce a comprehensive snapshot of remuneration packages for use by recruiters and companies.

While the headline results will be published, participants will receive a detailed analysis enabling them to make a direct comparison with similar companies.

It’s this kind of information which is crucial for companies wanting to attract the very best candidates who will be looking for a competitive offer.

We have been working on this annual project with Paydata Ltd, another Peterborough company, for the last few years. They are national experts in the field so are able to see how Peterborough shapes up against other regions. Outside the public sector, they have reported seeing a modest rise in salaries across the UK so we shall wait to see if that is reflected locally.

It’s not too late to take part in this year’s survey. If you’d like further information, do get in touch.

CV lies: a lesson in why not to do it

Even the mighty aren’t immune – and what a lesson for anyone thinking they might just ‘tweak’ their CV.

We have been following with interest the case of Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson who, reports suggest, left the company after including a fake college degree on his CV.

He was hired in January, having previously worked at PayPal, for an annual salary of $1 million – with possible bonuses of $2 million this year.

But a discrepancy was discovered in Thompson’s educational background. In his biography he laid claim to a computer science degree which he didn’t have.

As a result of the revelation he was, it is claimed, pressured to give up his post. His experience, career, expertise and three months spent at the company proving his abilities counted for nothing when set against his lie.

This is a very real reminder of the importance of ensuring your CV is truthful. You may not be risking a $1 million salary but if you land a job and then get found out, you’re risking having to walk away in disgrace, and explain that on your CV in future.

Don’t claim to have a degree if you don’t have one; don’t claim to have a better degree than you have; don’t fill in missing gaps with jobs you haven’t had; don’t promote yourself in previous job titles.

Employers are becoming more savvy about checking CVs, by ringing previous employers, calling colleges or searching online.

When it comes to impressing future employers, honesty really is the best quality to have.

Stamford Mercury Business Awards

Guest blog by recruitment partner Karen Dykes

I was delighted to represent Anne Corder Recruitment at this week’s Stamford Mercury Business Awards.

Anne judged the Business of the Year category along with Robert Hinch from Greetham Valley Hotel, Golf and Conference Centre.

As usual the entries demonstrated perfectly the diversity of the business community in and around Stamford. They came from long established and family run firms to relatively new niche businesses making their mark both locally and nationally.

Anne and Robert spent a day visiting the short listed companies and were, as they have been every year they’ve judged the awards, incredibly impressed with the people they met. These are the entrepreneurial faces of our region who are working hard day in day out. They may be providing a service or manufacturing a product, all are creating employment and all are contributing to the economy. For all those reasons – and many more – they are to be applauded.

This year Anne and Robert just couldn’t separate two of the businesses they visited and so announced joint winners… MMT Digital and Simmons Optometrists.

While MMT Digital is at the cutting edge of web design, Simmons is a very traditional business serving the community.

MMT Digital’s success is easily seen in terms of levels of business, new clients and expanding workforce. Anne called it: “A little gem of a business now based in Rutland successfully working with very high profile clients.”

Anne and Robert were equally complimentary about Simmons. They said the couple who own and manage the business are not only technical experts in their field but commercially knowledgeable. They took over the business six years ago and since then have invested time and money in consolidating and expanding their client base.

Along with recruitment partner Nel Woolcott, I presented the awards to MMT Digital and Simmons Optometrists and it was a real honour to do so.

As usual Greetham Valley proved a wonderful venue for a very special evening of celebration marking some impressive achievements by the business community.

ACR notches up another Green Star

The Investors in the Environment scheme marked the end of its second successful year with an awards ceremony aimed at rewarding the achievements of those businesses which have demonstrated a commitment to an eco-policy.

We were one of the founder members of the scheme, organised and managed by PECT (Peterborough Environment City Trust) and were at last night’s ceremony.

There was an impressive turn out and it was incredible to hear of the impact the scheme has had. Tens of thousands of pounds have been saved by businesses through the adoption of eco-policies. Thousands of tonnes of waste have been diverted from landfill. Carbon footprints have been reduced. Recycling has increased on a huge scale. And the scheme has now become a franchise being adopted by environmental trusts as far afield as Yorkshire.

It was great to see how broad a spectrum of businesses have signed up to the scheme, from small owner-managed concerns to the Peterborough offices of Mars PetCare and Ikea.

We were delighted to once again receive not just the highest Green Award but also a Great Green Star Award. This particular certificate was given to the handful of companies which the auditors felt had embedded their eco-policy into the fabric of their business.

For us, our reduce, recyle, reuse policy has become second nature. We just do it. And that’s because as individuals and as an agency we have changed our habits. According to psychologists, it takes just a matter of weeks to change the habit of a lifetime. That’s not a long time. And as Kim Coley, the self-proclaimed queen of Investors in the Environment, said at the ceremony: “It’s about changing the world.”

How to stand out from 1,999 others

Guest blog from ACR Recruitment Partner Nel Woolcott

What do you do when your CV is one of 2,000 – and there are just 25 advertised jobs?

That’s the sobering snapshot of job hunting in Peterborough today. 

PJ Care advertised 25 jobs at its multi-million pound new care centre in Bretton Way. The first round of recruitment will see the appointment of nurses, care assistants, chefs, kitchen assistants, housekeepers, maintenance staff, receptionists and admin staff.

After advertising the positions, the company was inundated with an incredible 2,000 applications.

Such a big response hit the headlines. I was invited onto BBC Radio Cambridgeshire recently to discuss what job seekers must do to make their CV stand out in these circumstances.

My advice was centred around tailoring CVs to meet the requirements of the role. It’s simple advice, given to all our candidates, but it’s effective. Dissect the job ad and description and then highlight relevant experience to put yourself in the running.

From a Peterborough recruiter’s point of view, we’re delighted to see such a substantial influx of new jobs – the centre will eventually employ around 180 staff. And there’s further good news with the announcement of new jobs being created at Serco.

The backdrop to all this is, of course, that unemployment in Peterborough reached a 17 year high in February.

But investment of this type in the city is a real demonstration of business confidence which, I hope, will help give others the assurances they need to start looking to the future.

Moments of truth

I was invited by the Royal Bank of Scotland to address a group of business people on the subject of customer retention. My credentials? My proud admission that we are still working today with businesses and people who were among our first clients and candidates when the business was established back in 1995.

From the beginning, I was passionate about recruiting, not selling - and everyone in the ACR team shares that ethos. We’re all commercially aware but our focus is firmly on customer service.

That isn’t always easy. We have two sets of customers, our clients and our candidates, and keeping them both happy can be a balancing act. But it is one we strive to perform.

During my presentation, I quoted Jan Carlson, president and CEO of Scandinavian Airline Systems (SAS) in the 1980s and early 90s. He popularised the concept of ‘moments of truth’ for business.

A moment of truth, according to his philosophy, was a contact between a customer and an employee. In his case that might have been a passenger checking in at the airport or being served during the flight. Each moment of truth was an opportunity to meet, and if possible, exceed a customer’s expectation for quality and service.

Every business has moments of truth. We identified ours in the early days of the business. They have changed as the industry has moved on and the internet has played a much bigger role. But we still have them – as every business should.

For candidates it’s about acknowledging receipt of a CV, their visit to our office, a follow up phone call after an interview, for instance.

For clients it’s about regular meetings, appropriate feedback and invitations to our regular employment law seminars.

We have created further moments of truth by introducing an initiative called ‘touches’. Recruitment partners are required to make and measure high quality customer contact.

At every moment of truth, we maintain our professionalism which is also reflected through our branding, our marketing, IT systems and the added value we offer to both sets of customers.

Our corporate social responsibility agenda provides further opportunity for customer, and potential customer, contact.

Preparing for the talk made me think about exactly what ACR does do to retain customers. Most of it is so built in to the way we do business we barely notice it anymore – it’s just ‘what we do’.

But it was a great revision exercise and one I felt worth sharing here…

The Budget fall out

As I write, one of our management team Nel Woolcott is at a Budget breakfast event held by the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, gauging the reaction of local businesses to the Chancellor’s announcements yesterday.

Generally, I was encouraged by his speech, seeing it as positive for businesses and job creation.

The changes to Corporation Tax will, I believe, encourage businesses to invest in their workforce. Speeding up year-on-year reductions creates certainty for businesses. That, in turn, encourages growth which is, of course, good for the recruitment sector.

The change in the 50p rate of tax, albeit delayed for a year, sends a positive message to home-grown entrepreneurs that the UK rewards success and job creators – again good for our sector.

Of course, no budget ever ticks every item on everyone’s wish list.

Mr Osborne did miss some opportunities to give businesses a boost and so, in the medium and long term, encourage job creation. I would have liked to have seen specific measures introduced to cut EU red tape In fact, any simplification of regulations would have been welcomed, particularly surrounding the agency workers’ and the pensions auto-enrolment system. And an employers National Insurance holiday for businesses employing young people would, I believe, have gone some way to ease the spiralling burden of youth unemployment.

But I guess, we can’t have everything – at least not in one go!

Look out for us on the national news!

It started out as a telephone conversation with a Channel 4 News reporter wanting to glean information for a jobs market report.

Then came the request to do some filming in our Park Road office.

Before we knew it, recruitment partner Karen Dykes was in front of the camera discussing market challenges, the benefits of voluntary work and the current jobs situation for school leavers in the area!

The focus of the report, for this Sunday’s news programme, was a 15 year old student from Jack Hunt School in Peterborough. The news crew followed him compiling his CV and having careers discussions in school.

Then they came to our offices where Karen spent some time offering the teenager some pointers on his CV and discussing how beneficial work experience can be when it comes to job hunting in the future.

Karen was then interviewed further with her views about various aspects of the job market filmed.

Of course, we don’t know which sections will make it into the report – but we will all be in front of the television on Sunday at 6.25pm to find out!

Demand for digital marketing skills in city outstripping supply

For months, if not longer, the talk in recruitment has been about the disproportionately high number of candidates in comparison to vacancies. But, in one sector at least, the scales have tipped in the other direction.

The demand for digital marketing specialists is on the increase – and, from conversations we’ve been having with other business people and clients, we suspect it’s not a short term spike but the beginning of a long term trend.

For the uninitiated, and I should probably count myself in that number!, digital marketing incorporates search engine optimisation, Google analytics, pay per click advertising and the whole range of social media – Facebook, Twitter and the like.

More and more companies are getting involved in these forms of marketing. But they need people to manage it. And that’s where they’re struggling to find people. Online marketing is still in its infancy so the number of experts in the field is still relatively small. Demand is outstripping supply.

We’re particularly noticing this in Peterborough where media and marketing is one of the growth sectors. We are getting more and more requests from companies, large and small, for people with a background in digital marketing and finding the right calibre of people is a challenge.

I hope that this is something schools, universities and other training centres will pick up on so that, eventually, we will start to see a healthy flow of people with the right skill sets to match these kind of vacancies.

In the meantime, if you have an online marketing background or expertise, congratulations – you’re in demand!

Recruitment drive launched in the city

We are delighted to be part of a new recruitment drive launched in the city.

A long standing client has announced expansion plans which will create a total of 30 new vacancies. These are support roles for the contact centre so the hours are Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm rather than shift work. The aim is to fill the roles between now and the summer – some on a permanent basis and others on contract.

This is perfect timing for the city. As in so many places, the number of available jobs has been in continuing decline. The announcement that a raft of new roles is being created can only be a positive – not just because it offers new opportunities to job seekers but also as a demonstration that companies are investing in the city and in the future.
We’re now working with the client to pinpoint the right people for the new roles which will be supporting contact centre staff.

Again this sits perfectly in Peterborough which has become something of a ‘service centre’ hub over the last few years. The skills – customer service, admin and IT - are there among the workforce to be utilised.

We’re now busy organising an open event for next Friday. We will be inviting candidates whose CVs match the required skills to attend on an appointment basis. Those we deem suitable, both in terms of their skill set and their personality, will then be passed through to the client.

This is a really exciting opportunity for us, job seekers and the city – I shall look forward to reporting back on how it goes.

Jobless figures up but hope on the horizon

The good news is that opportunities in the job market do exist but, being at the front line, we know they’re not particularly easy for job seekers to find, or secure.
The latest rise in unemployment reflects this.

Figures, covering the three months until November 2011, show an increase of 118,000 in the number of people out of work. The jobless total, according to the Office of National Statistics, now stands at 2.68 million.

While the private sector has continued to create new jobs it is not in sufficient numbers to compensate for the 67,000 shed by the public sector. So the scales don’t balance. As I said, the opportunities do exist but not in the quantities necessary to reverse the upward trend.

The outlook may appear gloomy but we have noticed some sectors bucking the trend. And, according to news from the industry body Recruitment and Employment Confederation, we’re not the only ones.

There is strong demand in IT, for office professionals and in engineering and surveys reveal encouraging signs in terms of hiring strategies for the coming months.
Around 40,000 permanent positions each month are being filled by recruitment agencies – which does prove we’re working hard for our candidates!

Of course, I’m realistic. The job market is tough at the moment. And the general thinking is that it will continue to get worse before stabilising later in the year.
In the meantime, we are doing what we can to help lessen the impact of the difficult economic times on both clients and candidates.

An interesting year…and another to come

The introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations in October was the biggest national event affecting our industry in 2011. So far, the figures don’t suggest it has made any real dents in the demand for temporary and interim staff. But we’ve only just slipped into the 12 week time frame for ensuring temporary staff receive comparable pay and benefits to permanent staff. Once the reality of that starts kicking in, there could be knock on effects and we will be watching closely for them.

It has certainly created a huge volume of work for us and our clients. We have spent much of the year discussing compliancy with businesses we work with – and others in the Peterborough region. Processes have had to be put in place, record keeping amended and information gathered to ensure the regulations are adhered to. By the time the regulations were written into legislation we were very pleased we’d spent so long preparing.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that 2012 is going to throw up its own challenges.
There is a general concern within the industry that the labour market will remain fragile certainly in the early part of the year.
There is also a worry that all the talk of that will rock employer confidence which is key to job creation.

Training will be vital. We know that while there are a lot of people looking for jobs there are some vacancies which can’t be filled because of a lack of candidates with suitable skills. This is something we will be discussing with those we work closely with in education and higher education.

Our industry body, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is predicting unemployment will peak at around 2.75 million.

Our region didn’t fare too badly in 2011, when compared with the rises in unemployment elsewhere in the country. We can only hope that trend continues.
Of course, much of what happens nationally – and as a result locally – will depend on the European situation which we shall be watching closely.

And just a little note about what’s been happening here at ACR. Looking back it has been a year of changes. We have said goodbye to some familiar faces, hello to a clutch of new ones – and congratulations to a number of new mums and mums-to-be among the team too!
Throughout all that we have continued to strive to provide our clients and candidates with the excellent service they have come to expect from us.

And that’s just what we will continue to do in 2012.

Happy new year!