JOBS OUTLOOK SURVEY DELIVERS PROMISING RESULTS

Catching up on recent findings from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) latest JobsOutlook survey, I was thrilled to read that 56% of employers intend to increase their headcount over the next quarter.

It’s another encouraging statistic that serves to reflect increased optimism of businesses about the future of the economy and, more specifically, the jobs market.

A rise in the percentage of bosses who foresee agency staff headcounts will “stay the same” also shows growing confidence in the temporary labour market and the benefits agency staff can bring to businesses.

The summer months are a particularly busy time for temporary workers, who are most often employed to meet fluctuations in demand and to assist during sickness/holiday/maternity cover.

Temporary recruitment is something that myself and the team at ACR commit a lot of our time to, as we recognise the value that flexible work can offer both clients and candidates. And while we know there is a demand for it here in Peterborough, it’s great to see that the benefits are becoming more widely recognised, as reported by the REC.

Over the next year, one in three respondents plan to increase the use of agency workers, while 60% predict no change in their use of temps. This leaves just 6% who expect to make a reduction - a pleasingly low percentage.

ACR inputs data into the JobsOutlook survey on a monthly basis so it’s always interesting to see if our findings match those on a national level. We continue to be reassured by the latest results, and look enthusiastically forward to what the next quarter will bring.

Latest research shows renewed confidence in UK jobs market

In my last blog post, I gave some predictions for the year ahead after a busy and insightful month working with both clients and candidates.

Now a recent survey conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has revealed some promising statistics regarding the growth of the UK jobs market on the whole, which I’m delighted to see reflects our experiences here in Peterborough.

600 employers contributed to the report, which showed that overall business confidence is steadily building, with 57% of employers looking to increase their permanent workforce in the next three months.

It’s this type of good news that needs shouting about, particularly when there has been so much negativity surrounding the job losses within a number of high street retailers over the past few months.

This latest research demonstrates the ongoing resilience of the jobs market, as well as highlighting the areas that have a need for more workers.

Skills shortages in the Technical & Engineering and the Professional & Managerial sectors have incited a race for talent, with a third of employers looking to increase their use of temporary workers – the benefit of which ACR has long been champions of.

All of this bodes extremely well for us locally, as many of the area’s prominent businesses belong to these sectors. Myself and the team at ACR continue to be engaged with and responsive to the hiring processes of a number of clients within these industries, working alongside HR managers and directors to find the right temporary or permanent candidate with the right skills and attributes for their company.

If any of the REC’s findings sounds familiar to you, do let us know. We make it our business to keep up-to-date with the latest news and issues affecting employers, regularly using our own polls to ask some of the most pertinent questions. Please see our dedicated hirers section on the website for more information.

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.

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!

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.

Sharpest rise for almost four years

‘Strong and accelerated rises’ – that’s a phrase we haven’t heard in relation to the job market for a long time. But, according to the latest figures, it is apt.

We feed information into the monthly Report on Jobs, published by the REC and KPMG and February’s figures are looking good.

Permanent placements increased at the sharpest rate in 10 months. Temporary billings fared even better with the greatest rise since May 2007 – that’s almost four years.

And it wasn’t just appointments that scored robust growth. The overall level of vacancies showed the strongest rate of increase since last April. There are more candidates in the market too – especially those looking for temporary work.

Of course, any positivity these figures generate – and they certainly should generate some – has to be tempered by what is happening in the public sector. While the private sector is hiring, the public sector is shedding jobs. The Report on Jobs shows that while the IT and computing sector saw accelerated growth over the last 12 months, nursing, medical and care sectors have declined.

The REC’s chief executive Kevin Green described the situation in the UK as a ‘two speed labour market’. He also anticipates unemployment will continue to rise until the end of this year before starting a slow decline into 2012.

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 over the coming months.

Happy New Year

2011 has arrived. And we’re very much hoping things continue as they did in the run up to Christmas.

Strangely, just as everyone else started slowing down in that last week our phones were ringing off the hook. It was almost as if other businesses were quietening down, freeing up HR staff to make the calls they’d been putting off for a while.

Even on Christmas Eve we were accepting jobs.

That kept us busy in the traditionally quite period between Christmas and New Year and now we’re back to full strength for the New Year and looking forward to getting our teeth stuck in to what 2011 brings.

Here’s to a good 2011 for all of us!

Salary survey results revealed

* Guest blog from Nel Woolcott, Recruitment Partner

At last – some evidence to back up what we’ve been noticing over recent months. The results of our annual Local Market Salary Survey have been collated. And they show an average two per cent increase in wages over the past 12 months.

That may not sound a lot but bearing in mind last year’s survey revealed a 3.6 per cent downturn it’s definitely a reason to be cheerful.

The other significant thing to mention is the number of businesses which took part in this year’s survey – 32 – which is a third more than last year. The conclusion we’ve drawn from this is that companies are keen to buy in to key decision making tools, which is what we like to think the survey is.

Contributors receive detailed reports showing how their salary scales match up to other companies in the same sector. They provide the perfect benchmark when setting salary levels. This is now more important than ever as companies have to position themselves as employers of choice to attract the right candidates to lead them out of the recession.

We’ve noticed a sea change in candidates’ attitudes. With the slight upturn in the economy, candidates do now feel like they can pick and choose roles – certainly to a bigger extent than they could last year when it was a case of ‘any job’ rather than ‘that job’.

Employee retention is vital too – especially for those companies who were forced to shed jobs. They need to hold on to those who are left.

There were fluctuations in the results, as always, with secretarial and admin staff receiving the biggest rise – five per cent - on average. And, drilling down to specific roles - call centre advisers were the biggest winners with an average increase of 10.3 per cent.

To register an interest in taking part in next year’s survey please email us.

Unemployment figures

The number of people working in the UK has jumped by the largest amount in more than two decades. Unemployment now stands at 2.46 million.

But in an interesting twist the figures show the rise in employment was lead by a record number of part-timers and people aged over 65 remaining in work.

That ties in with our experience.

The number of opportunities has increased – certainly since this time last year – which is good news. But many employers are remaining cautious and preferring to take on temporary or contract staff. Often the thinking is that, if all goes well, the person will be offered a permanent contract but, for the moment, they’re reluctant to make a wholesale commitment.

And, from the other side, we’re finding that candidates winning at interview are the ones who are flexible and happy to consider temporary or contract opportunities – rather than the ones holding out for full time permanent positions.

While these kind of roles don’t offer long – or even medium – term security they can be a valuable stepping stone and a way back into the workplace and we often advise candidates to seriously consider them.

The other thing we advise is a positive approach – in fact, you might have seen me saying just that on the Anglia Television news bulletins on Wednesday. However frustrating it is answering the same questions for the 20th time you have to approach each interview as if it’s your first – but with the benefit of having done dress rehearsals!

Anglia approached us to talk about the employment situation in Peterborough – something we like to think we know quite a lot about! One of our candidates was interviewed on camera too, talking about the difficulties of finding the right kind of work.

You can watch the full report by clicking here.