Demand for temporary staff increases year-on-year

News Article - 23 December 2011
Category: Business

Employer demand for temporary or agency staff over the past month has remained stable and has increased on the same time last year, according to data published yesterday by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

REC'sJobsOutlooksurvey revealed 81 per cent of employers gauged are planning to either grow or maintain their agency workforces at current levels.

Within this figure, 31 per cent of employers are planning to increase their temporary staff, compared to 22 per cent at the same time last year.

Looking further ahead, 83 per cent of employers surveyed revealed they are looking to expand or maintain their temporary staff levels over the next 12 months.

The survey also reveals over half (52 per cent) of employers made changes to their workforce - including staff training - following the implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) that came into force on October 1^st.

Meanwhile the number of employers looking to use temporary staff less due to the AWR was in fact seven per cent down on the previous month, suggesting the impact of the new regulations on clients will be minimal at worst.

Kevin Green, REC chief executive, commented on the latest report: "The on-going economic uncertainty has clearly influenced hiring patterns. Using temporary and contract staff is an attractive option and provides a means of bringing in the right skills at very short notice.

"There is no doubt that the AWR has created significant cost and bureaucracy for agencies. At the same time, the need for agency staff has so far remained constant.

"The main impact to date has been the development of new supply models rather than any sort of collapse in demand for temp and contract labour. These are trends that we will continue to track as we approach the first 12 week milestone since the regulations come into force."

Article keywords: temp staff, part time, rec, uk business

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