Businesses have found they can reduce absenteeism, improve staff morale and productivity and are better able to attract and retain top talent if they adopt more flexible working arrangements. The report from the RECs Flexible Work Commission, published today, outlines the competitive advantage gained by businesses that adopt less traditional structures for their workforce such as the use of compressed hours, home workers and temporary and part-time contracts.

The Commission interviewed 29 businesses and employer bodies both from the UK and abroad about their experience of using a range of flexible work practices and contains several key recommendations for business and government including:

Businesses must engage workers in designing flexible roles and reinforce to the whole workforce that flexibility is not just for certain groups but for everyone.

Businesses must do more to train leaders and managers, giving them the confidence and skills to lead flexible teams effectively.

The government must move the debate beyond the current focus on family friendly working practices by encouraging far greater uptake of all forms of flexibility throughout the public sector.

Trade associations and professional institutes should work cooperatively with unions and employee organisations to advocate the benefits of flexibility for both businesses and workers and move the debate beyond talk of casualisation and employer-imposed flexibility.

Recruitment agencies must advise employers on job design and flexible work options, challenge assumptions about flexibility, help their clients improve job descriptions and advertisements to reflect flexible options available and devise creative and bespoke solutions in line with business need.

David Frost CBE, former Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce and chair of the RECs Flexible Work Commission, says:

Whilst unemployment in this country stands at over 2.5m, it is still significantly below levels experienced during previous recessions.

A key reason for this is that business has adopted a range of flexible working
practices that have enabled them not only to sustain their companies but also,
and importantly, to hold onto their employees. This flexibility was not seen in
previous downturns.

There is an opportunity to create a real positive legacy from the recession if we can share the knowledge and experience from organisations who have successfully used flexible work arrangements to improve their businesses with more employers throughout the UK.

The RECs chief executive, Kevin Green, says:

A wider understanding of flexible work needs to be adopted by government to help move the debate beyond the current focus on family friendly working practices. Part-time working, contracting and other flexible solutions have been a significant factor in keeping people in work and companies in business during this recession.

The UK has a competitive advantage in its flexible labour market and by enhancing and promoting the benefits of flexibility to all, we can leverage this advantage to create more, and better, jobs in the UK.

http://www.rec.uk.com/press/news/2201

New figures released today by the Totaljobs Barometer, the first to provide a round-up of the labour market in the first quarter of 2012, reveal that competition for posts rose from 15 to 20 applications for each job compared to the same period last year.

Although the jobs market saw a 4% rise in jobs year on year, areas like Scotland and Wales, suffered a huge fall in the number of jobs available; 17% and 18% per cent respectively. Outside London, the area with the fiercest competition is the North East of England which has now reached a record high of 23 applications for every job posted in the first quarter of 2012 up 15% on the same period last year.

The Totaljobs Barometer provides one of the most comprehensive representations of supply and demand in the UK job market importantly reporting three months ahead of official ONS statistics for which it stands up as a proven forecast. Based on the behaviour of 5.1 million jobseekers and 5,000 recruiters each month , todays figures show how UK recruitment has fared in the first quarter of 2012.

The figures also outline recruiter and jobseeker activity across 33 sectors. Whilst sectors such as accountancy, aerospace and engineering have seen strong growth, this has been offset by a significant fall in public sector jobs which have declined 58% year-on-year. At the same time, the total number of applications has risen by 20 per cent across all sectors. The rise means that the number of people looking for work has increased, bringing a greater danger of jobs seekers desperately applying for any job and being less focused on pursuing their chosen career path, boosting the total number of applications.

John Salt, Director, totaljobs.com commented on the figures:

At the tail end of 2011, we started to see a decline in the jobs market after a fairly buoyant start to the year. This slowdown has continued into 2012 with companies reluctant to take on more staff when the economy is teetering on the brink of a double dip recession. The economic recovery that was hoped for at the start of 2012 never materialised, and with projections that GDP is likely to remain stagnant, future labour market growth is difficult to see in the short term.

The most alarming thing about these numbers is the sheer volume of applicants within sectors that are not seeing any jobs growth. The secretarial and services industries are seeing 52 and 54 applications per job respectively, and there are no signs of the number of jobs available rising. This means theres a risk of jobseekers being frozen out of the workforce entirely.

Q1 2012: grim prospects but glimmers of hope

The gloomy economic forecasts coming into 2012 have meant recruiters are extra cautious about taking on more staff. This has been most apparent in Scotland and Wales where jobs have fallen at an alarming rate. Broadly speaking, public sector job cuts have continued to take effect into this year and although there are small signs of growth from the private sector, it fails to continue to pick up the slack sufficiently. There are, however, glimmers of hope, with graduate jobs up 16% on the quarter just as final year students are looking for positions after graduation. Northern Ireland is another rare success story, as jobs grew 26% in the first three months of this year compared to the previous quarter following recent investment from technology companies like Kelvatek and drinks industry giant Diageo.

Extract taken from Onrec

Permanent staff placements increased in three of the four monitored English regions during February, led by the Midlands. Solid growth was also registered in both the South and the North. London bucked the trend, recording a slight decline.

These were the findings of the first-ever regional REC/KPMG Report on Jobs series published today comprising four regional reports tracking labour market trends across the Midlands, the North of England, the South of England and London. The reports are designed to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to labour market trends and the data are directly comparable with the UK Report on Jobs.

Key points of the Reports are:

• Permanent placements rise across all English regions except London
• This is in contrast to broad-based decline in temp billings
• Midlands and South see rise in salaries for permanent staff

Permanent staff placements increased in three of the four monitored English regions during February, led by the Midlands. Solid growth was also registered in both the South and the North. London bucked the trend, recording a slight decline.

Temporary/contract staff billings fell across England, with the sharpest reduction seen in London. Rates of decline in the Midlands, North and South were marginal. A number of survey respondents across the regions commented that the effect of Agency Worker Regulations had weighed on short-term staff appointments during the latest survey period.

Recruitment consultants indicated a higher level of job vacancies in all regions except the capital during February. Growth was led by the North and the South, while the Midlands posted a marginal improvement. London registered a further decrease in vacancies.

Differing pay trends were signalled in February. The South and the Midlands both recorded moderate increases in permanent staff salaries, but the North and London posted declines.

Hourly rates of pay for temporary/contract staff rose across England, with by far the strongest increase seen in the Midlands. Elsewhere, increases in temp pay were modest and below long-run trends.

All four monitored regions saw improved levels of candidate availability during February. For both permanent and temporary staff, growth was strongest in the North.

Tom Hadley, the RECs Director of Policy and Professional Services says:

There are positive signs for the jobs market across most regions, with a significant upturn in permanent placements. Private sector employers are becoming more confident which should result in hiring activity accelerating further in the second part of the year. The temporary market is essentially flat but continues to provide an important outlet for employers and job-seekers.

The one area where an increase in permanent placements was not apparent was London. This may in part be due in part to the fact that a high percentage of businesses in the capital operate in sectors that have been hard hit such as financial services and hotel & catering. We will continue to track regional variations over the coming months and have welcomed recent messages from Government about employment initiatives needing to be more reflective of local labour market needs and trends.

Across all regions, we are seeing a high-demand for skilled workers in sectors such as IT, engineering and healthcare. One key challenge for recruiters is finding workers with the skills and competencies that employers are looking for. Addressing this skills mismatch must be a priority and is something that Local Enterprise Partnerships can help to drive in co-operation with local employers and recruiters.

Extract Taken from REC UK

Growth of permanent staff placements was recorded for the second month running in February and at the strongest pace since last May., according to the REC/KPMG Report on Jobs published today. Agencies temporary/contract staff billings, however, fell slightly for the third month running.

Key points of the Report are:

• Stronger rise in permanent placements but temp billings fall
• IT & Computing and Engineering/Construction staff most in-demand
• Permanent salaries fall for first time since October 2009
• Temp pay rises at fastest rate in four months

Overall demand for staff rose at the fastest pace in four months during February, as a sharper increase in permanent vacancies offset a slower expansion of temp vacancies. Sector data showed that IT & Computing was the most in-demand permanent staff type, while Engineering/Construction was the most sought-after temp category.

The availability of candidates to fill job vacancies rose further in February, albeit at a weaker pace. For both permanent and temporary staff, rates of growth were the slowest in three months.

Recruitment consultants reported a drop in permanent staff salaries during February for the first time since October 2009. In contrast, temp staff pay rates increased at the fastest pace in four months.

Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC, says:

The labour market is clearly improving as this months Report on Jobs shows the strongest performance on permanent placements for nine months. Demand for staff also rose at the fastest pace for four months, so jobseekers should take heart that there are vacancies out there. Slowly, private sector employers are becoming more confident as the gloom, caused by a slowing economy late last year and fears about the Eurozone, recedes.

The temporary market has shown a slight decline since January and is essentially flat at present. However, agency work continues to provide an important outlet for employers and jobseekers with over a million temporary workers placed on assignments in any given week.

We are seeing high demand in professional roles such as IT, engineering, legal and HR and chefs continue to be in demand within the hospitality sector. The other sector which seems buoyant is nursing, medical and care. We believe this is because NHS trusts are recognising that using high quality temporary staff when they are needed is a cost effective solution to maintaining a quality service when budgets are being squeezed.

Looking ahead, we anticipate that unemployment will continue to worsen slightly over the next few months. However, with these early indicators of the private sector starting to hire again, the labour market is likely to bounce back towards the end of this year and on into early 2013.

Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG comments:

The latest report raises hopes of a Spring revival in the jobs market with a second successive monthly rise in the number of people securing permanent roles and the data also indicating that February saw the rate of growth accelerating to a nine-month high. Put alongside recent news from the ONS which suggested that the last unemployment figures represented the smallest rise in almost a year and there may be signs that the market is displaying early signs of recovery.

Yet cautious optimism must remain the watchwords because the picture is not as rosy for temporary positions. Of course, the reduction in contract placements may yet be related to the Agency Workers regulations, but without buoyancy in both the permanent and temporary markets it is still too early to unfurl the bunting.

For those who have found new employment, we are also seeing rates for wages reducing for the first time since 2009, with a real prospect of continued downward pressure as the year goes on. Given the ongoing squeeze many are feeling as costs go up on the high street, it appears that the price of permanent employment is lower take-home pay, but this is an inevitable consequence of a competitive, yet still fractious, market.

The REC/KPMG Report on Jobs provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.

Extract Taken from REC UK

The survey by Manpower discovered that only one in every five employers had any plans to hire staff within the next three months.

However, many UK employers are reporting that there is actually a drop in the number of applications they are receiving especially from British workers.

A survey for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, published last month, reported that Britains schools have produced a generation who are weak in literacy, numeracy and communication skills which encourages employers to choose harder-working more punctual foreign workers.

aspect.co.uk one of Britains fastest growing property maintenance companies have announced that they are expanding their successful London operation nationally and have been advertising for new staff throughout the regions.

We have all been shocked by the paucity of applications from British workers, especially youngsters, said Will Davies, co-founder of aspect.co.uk

There are plenty of applications from workers over 30 but we want to see a mobilization of younger British workers to take on the challenge of getting out to work and delivering a service like ours.

It is becoming acceptable for the young in Britain to be unemployed and use the economic situation and the massive youth unemployment figures as an excuse, he said.

Official unemployment statistics will be revealed tomorrow and they are expected to highlight further the worsening situation.

Extract Taken From ONREC

Pay prospects for IT staff are the highest they have been since winter 2007, reveals research by business and technology staffing company ReThink Recruitment.

Its IT directors survey shows that 59% of respondents expect salaries for their IT staff in the next year, compared to 47% last year, and just over a quarter (27%) for 2010.

Additionally, 43% of IT directors expect to increase headcounts over the next year, up from 36% last year.

Michael Bennett, director of ReThink, says: This is the first really positive outlook that we have had from IT directors since the credit crunch began.

From the feedback that we are getting from many of the UKs largest employers, the purse strings for their IT departments might finally be loosened.

However, there is bad news for contractors as 93% of those surveyed said that they expected contractor rates to either stay the same or fall in the year ahead

Extract Taken From Recruiter