Agency Workers Key To Recovery According To Rec’s Jobsoutlook

Ahead of the latest official unemployment figures, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s latest JobsOutlook has again shown the importance employers are placing on the use of agency workers in both their short and long term planning.

A total of 88 per cent of employers surveyed – a rise of two per cent on last month, said they would be either maintaining or increasing their use of temporary workers in the next three months, while one in three - the same number as last month - is planning to increase or keep static their long term use of agency staff.

Commenting on the JobsOutlook findings, Roger Tweedy, the REC's Director of Research, said:

“Again, our findings show the vital role agency workers are now playing in helping to sustain the fragile economic recovery and in providing a bridge in capacity until employers begin to grow their permanent workforces more significantly in the autumn.

“The current demand for agency workers is spearheading the jobs market and again reinforces the importance of a flexible workforce while the economic recovery continues.

“There is bound to be uncertainty now among employers following last week’s general election results and the new government should now be focusing first and foremost on delivering the right economic conditions for employers to continue building their permanent workforces. Until that happens, agency workers will be key to their strategic business plans.”

Again, JobsOutlook showed a continuing rise in employer confidence reflected in the fact 96 per cent were still planning to keep static or grow their permanent workforces in the next 12 months. The survey also revealed a drop in the number of employers – 35 per cent – who are planning to make redundancies to their workforce in the next three months.

Source Recruitment International