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.

Work shy students? It’s a myth

Guest blogger ACR Business Coordinator Claire Latham

It’s holiday time – great news for your staff probably not such good news for you. If your office is anything like ours, despite the best laid plans, we often find ourselves with a spell over schools holidays where we’re more short handed than we’d like to be.

We regularly stop the gaps, as it were, with students.

We get a lot of university students, and post A’ level students, registering with us in the run up to the summer holidays. Most are looking for short term work either to pay off student debts or maybe to fund a summer holiday.

For them, temporary work has many benefits. First and foremost, it pays! Secondly, it’s a great opportunity to get a peek inside a sector they may be interested in working in in the future. Thirdly, it looks good on their CV to have work experience under their belt.

For you, as an employer, taking on temporary staff over the summer spell can pay real dividends.

We have temps on our books able to cover a huge range of disciplines – from simply answering phones and taking messages, to meeting and greeting, to carrying out detailed project work or overseeing a department in the manager’s absence. That means there’s no need for a department to be partially closed, or on a go-slow, over the summer.

Temps can be taken on for as long or short a period as you need. One client found their two receptionists had holidays which overlapped by a day. We were able to provide them with a temp to cover that one shift.

We find students are often given excellent feedback by companies – they’re keen to make a good impression with a view to further work in the future, they’re new to the business so often able to inject something fresh to the mix and, if they’re forward-thinking enough to register with a recruitment agency, it tends to mean they’re not shy of hard work!

Employers upbeat about growth in UK jobs

The cautious optimism we’ve noticed in the job markets over recent weeks isn’t limited to just our clients or even our region. According to the latest JobsOutlook survey from our industry body – the REC – 94 per cent of employers expect to maintain or grow their workforce over the next 12 months.

And a quarter are planning to increase the number of temps they use. That’s a move we often suggest to clients deliberating over staffing levels.

Using temps offers tremendous flexibility – they can be drafted in when work volumes are high and then not used during quieter periods. And of course taking on temps is a great way to try potential employees out. What better way to decide if a person will fit into your work environment than by putting them in it.

That’s why I was disappointed to see the TUC’s comments following the announcement of the latest job figures.

Unemployment fell by 3,000 which the TUC described as ‘deceptively healthy’ because of an increase in temporary and part time work.

Surely any fall in unemployment figures – after so many months of rises – should be welcomed. Taking on temporary staff is a step in the right direction. It suggests companies are seeing an upturn in the amount of work but keeping their options open – a healthier approach to taking on permanent staff and then struggling to make the wage bill or being forced to consider redundancies.

In her shoes

It’s sometimes forgotten just how vital the role is that temps play in the UK economy. Every single week there are around 1.2 million of them working at every level in every sector, private and public.

The temp market is worth an incredible £24 billion annually.
Big numbers aren’t they?

In an effort to highlight the importance of temporary, contract and interim workers, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) holds an annual National Temporary Workers’ Week. This is the ninth year it’s been held and we’re proud to say it’s an important date in our calendar (1st-5th June 2009).

This year, we’re marking the week by sending one of our most experienced consultants out – to do the job of a temp!

Nel Woolcott manages the temp team and, in her decade with the company, has overseen the placement of thousands of temps.

She’ll be going back to grass roots, doing the work of one of our temps for the day. Vivien Jean-Paul is currently working in the Management Suite at Edith Cavell Hospital covering maternity leave for the PA to the chief operating officer and company secretary.

So that’s where Nel will be working – typing, filing, answering phone enquiries, managing emails and organising diaries.

It should prove an interesting reminder for Nel – and the rest of us – just how hard our temps work and how valuable their contribution is to our clients.