This page was last modified on Monday, August 23, 2010 11:16:32 AM
20 Aug 2010 POSITIVE OUTLOOK Encouraging long-term prospects for school-leavers With the UK jobs market continuing to feel the squeeze, what are the immediate and longer term employment prospects for the thousands of A level school-leavers.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has issued practical tips for the next generation of workers and has at the same time called on Government and business community to do more to build bridges into the world of work.
The REC’s latest JobsOutlook survey shows that the short-term hiring intentions of employers have been affected due to the ongoing economic uncertainty. However, the good news for those looking to jump straight onto the careers ladder or to take a gap-year is that an increasing number of employers expect to be hiring over the next 12 months.
Findings from JobsOutlook also reveal that 31 per cent of employers expect to increase their use of temporary workers in the next 12 months. This may provide opportunities for school leavers to develop practical experience of the world of work.
Commenting on the outlook for those receiving their A level results, Kevin Green, the REC’s Chief Executive says:
“This is an exciting but daunting time for many young people. School leavers are facing a perfect storm of an extremely competitive jobs market, a lack of effective guidance and a shortage of university places. However, our advice is to remain positive as there are still job opportunities out there. The key is to be aware of what skills employers are looking for, what the growth sectors are and to make the most of different routes into work such internships and temporary assignments.
“Those going on to university should complement their academic studies with some work experience. This will put them in good stead when it comes to entering the jobs market and will help to build the competencies that employers are seeking. As well as fundamental abilities such as communication and team-working, these could include commercial awareness, project planning, analysis and customer skills.”
The REC recently published the findings of its Youth Employment Taskforce which focused on the practical barriers currently facing young job-seekers.
Underlining the need to provide more support to the latest cohort of school leavers as well as to other young job-seekers, Green concludes:
“The economic downturn has already had a disproportionate effect on those aged between 16 and 24. Urgent action is needed from Government, business and education providers to build bridges into the world of work, address the current expectations gap and avert the threat of a ‘lost generation’.”
Practical tips the REC is offering are:-
For those looking to enter the jobs market now:
• Be aware - Get guidance on sectors and employers that are currently recruiting, Professional recruiters can be a good source of information here.
• Be tactical - Make the most of different routes into work such internships and temporary assignments. These can help to develop vital skills and experience. It is also a good time to look at vocational options and apprenticeships.
• Be flexible – won’t get the perfect job straight away but even relatively low-skilled work will provide crucial insights into the work of work and can lead to other opportunities.
• Be prepared - Get some practical guidance on CV writing and interview tips.
For those going to University:
• Be focused – Look at ways of developing some of the generic skills that employers are looking for - such as communication, commercial awareness, project planning and customer skills.
• Be proactive – Look to complement academic studies with work experience and extracurricular activities that can develop important skills and competencies.
• Be forward-thinking – What are the types of jobs that my studying could lead to, how can I start boosting my chances of employment?
• Be connected – Keep an eye out for what is happening in the jobs market, build a network of people you can speak to about possible career options.
The Youth Employment Taskforce was chaired by Baroness Margaret Prosser, Vice Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and brought together leading employers, recruiters, welfare providers as well as organisations such as the CIPD and Jobcentre Plus.
17 Aug 2010 BOSS OR FRIEND Facebook bigger than thought in the workplace Over 1 in 3 (36 per cent) of UK employees online have been sent a friendship request on Facebook by a colleague, client or boss, according to The Protection Gap survey conducted online and commissioned by Abbey Legal Protection (ALP).
When asked which Facebook related incidents they had experienced, over one in five (21%) respondents said they had had their photos accessible for colleagues to view and nearly one in ten (8%) workers have had Facebook information and knowledge used in a workplace situation.
CEO’s emerged as social networking fans with only 42% claiming not to have a Facebook page. One in seven (14%) CEO’s admitted to having photos uploaded and available for employees to view and a suprising one in ten (10%) have had their Facebook knowledge used in a workplace situation.
ALP urges employers to understand the potential risks for businesses, both in terms of reputation and the efficiency related costs, of not having a clear and articulated company social networking policy in place.
Richard Candy, underwriting director Abbey Legal Protection said: “The emergence of any new form of technology or means of communication can be extremely positive and bring welcome new ways of working into the workplace. Unfortunately, this also often translates to an increase in related risks for businesses and individuals. As was the case with the internet, mobile phones and email, social networking sites are no different.”
“These opportunities and risks vary considerably by organisation type and sector. Whilst Facebook can help to connect people and businesses, the risks range from corporate reputation and those of specific individuals, through to security breaches and even unlawful discrimination or harassment, to name but a few”.
“The key to minimizing the minefields for businesses, is to have a clear policy in place that suits your organization. Ensure employees are aware and familiar with it. Make sure they understand what is deemed to be inappropriate usage, and most importantly, update your policy regularly, as new issues emerge.”
“If you have evidence to demonstrate that these measures have been taken, you will be in a much more secure position should you ever be at the centre of a social media related legal wrangling.”
15 Aug 2010 EMPLOYER CAUTIOUS
Employers still not fully confident in hiring according to Jobsite data Jobsite`s latest Online Recruitment Market Tracker report shows that an air of caution remains with businesses looking to recruit.
Whilst more companies are recruiting overall, fewer vacancies are being advertised, suggesting that it is still critical hires that are being made rather than widespread recruitment. Interestingly, it is SME’s that have made the biggest change in recruitment with 11 per cent more advertising vacancies in this wave of research then in February 2010.
Businesses are also looking to return to more tried and tested recruitment methods with adverts in newspapers, on job boards or in trade publications, the most likely considered options for recruitment and a sharp decline in using social networking websites or business networks. This is reflected in how people are looking for jobs, with the most popular method being online job boards and both social networking and career fairs experiencing declines. With the latest wave of research taking place after the general election, it could be that the changes in government have resulted in some of this cautiousness.
Both businesses and job seekers are looking for a simple, ‘no-frills’ service from job boards but whereas recruiters tend to remain focused on using one job board, candidates are more likely to use several different ones. The latest research shows an eight per cent increase in candidates using between three and five job boards. This is in line with businesses wanting to minimise recruitment costs and candidates feeling they have a greater chance of finding a job by spreading their net wide.
Keith Potts, MD of Jobsite.co.uk, said: “The Online Recruitment Quarterly Market Tracker report is an invaluable piece of independent research detailing how both recruiters and job seekers are changing their behaviour. It helps to show the true effects that factors such as the recession or a new government have on job hunting and recruiting. It’s fascinating to see both the similarities and differences between the two audiences and by gaining a better understanding of their changing attitudes and behaviour it means we can do a better job at meeting their needs.”
13 Aug 2010 TEMP USAGE RISES De Poel sees use of temporary staff on the rise According to the ONS use of temporary staff has increased, while permanent hires remain on hold.
According to de Poel, the number one purchaser of temporary agency labour, short-term demand for temporary agency labour has increased in July across all industry sectors by 2.8 per cent compared with a universal decrease the previous month of 13 per cent.
This rising trend indicates that, although business activity may be increasing, confidence amongst organisations remains weak as a freeze on permanent recruitment continues.
Construction encountered the largest increase of 20 per cent compared with a decrease in the previous month of 13 per cent. In the first quarter of 2010, use of all temporary workers grew by 55,000 suggesting employers were keen to maintain flexibility in the workforce to react to the economic market.
Matthew Sanders, CEO said: “The findings suggest organisations are expanding their workforces to accommodate increased business activity, but are seeking an alternative to permanent recruitment and “safe ways” of responding to market growth while the economy remains unstable.
“When managed properly, temporary agency labour is a safe and efficient means of maintaining a strong skills base and supplementing a workforce that would otherwise be thin on the ground; in turn, guaranteeing business agility and company responsiveness.”
Matthew continues: “With unemployment levels high, graduates struggling to get permanent jobs, and people working for longer, many are turning to temporary working as a great route into work. Temporary working is on the rise however, with the Government planning to introduce a cap on skilled migrant workers, many of who are temporary workers, and the forthcoming review of the Agency Workers Regulations, we may see this trend change over the next few months.”
11 Aug 2010 READY FOR BILL Avoid lawsuits brought on by the Equality Act Expensive litigation will be on the cards for businesses not fully prepared for the Equality Bill which begins in October.
Maggie Berry, managing director of womenintechnology.co.uk said: “It’s great news that these changes are coming into force to strengthen existing equality laws, but employers need to make sure they know exactly what is happening.
“The Government Equalities Office predicts that allowing combined discrimination (for example claiming discrimination based on both age and race) will result in a 10 per cent increase in claims – and that is only one of the many changes! Being up to date with these aspects of employment law will both protect businesses from legal challenges and also protect a bigger proportion of the workforce from being discriminated against.”
Jennifer Bartlett, solicitor at internationally recognised law firm Kingsley Napley added: "The changes introduced by the Equality Act will help to simplify our existing employment laws, which is good news for employers and employees. The Equality Act also introduces some new obligations which may have a large impact on the employment sphere - what this space! Employers frequently have issues with discrimination when they are not aware of the current law. Keeping up to date now will help avoid difficulties later on down the line."
Womenintechnology.co.uk and Kingsley Napley have put together a white paper detailing the main changes that will come into force this October and in April 2011. For your free copy please visit http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/white-papers.
09 Aug 2010 SAVING FACE How can your business avoid expensive litigation? David Thompson shares his HR law expertise.
While we are all familiar with big name employment disputes, typically involving large City institutions, many smaller businesses are also becoming embroiled in legal cases. As the business environment becomes ever more litigious, more and more employers are picking up the ‘phone to lawyers, and racking up large bills. But with a little foresight and minimal investment, such costs can easily be avoided.
At hand
The minefield of evolving employment law means that every organisation should have robust policies in place, but smaller businesses rarely have the resources for full-time HR managers or costly lawyers on retainer. For these businesses, being able to call in an HR consultant on a flexible basis is often the best solution.
Having a professional HR Consultant on call means that employers have access to cost-effective expert advice that means “prevention better than cure” and saves both money and stress.
“Many SMEs are understandably so intent on developing their business that they simply do not have the combination of knowledge, experience or time to deal with employee issues. Others may simply turn a blind eye to a situation in the hope that the problem will disappear; but it seldom does.
One recent example has been guiding a client through a particularly complicated disciplinary matter.
The client had thought that it had acted legally in demoting an employee, who was later alleged to have been defrauding the company. The client had not initially complied with the basic legal requirements and so I was called in and reconstructed the process.
The client then summarily dismissed the employee but then compounded the initial error by deliberately ignoring the request for an appeal meeting and even failed to spot that the request had been received by Special Delivery.
Had the client invested in utilising our support at the front end of the process, the ultimate bill could have been five per cent of that actually incurred and the client would also have been able to focus on what it does best.
Prevention best medicine
That’s the cure… but what about the prevention?
Let’s start with recruitment: Some employers recruit on gut feeling - “you remind me of me when I was your age” - and/or the observations of a recruitment consultant all of which may be valid, but could still put you at risk of a discrimination claim.
Using psychometric tests, including personality profiling, and role relative exercises such as role plays can often reveal more about candidates and can also provide the candidates with a positive experience. They feel reassured that they are dealing with a professional organisation, and so the successful candidate is more likely to accept the employment offer.
The contract of employment, supported by policies and procedures, follow logically. As Thompson explains:
During recent years, there has been an increase in employment tribunal claims and personal injury claims. This has partly been the result of employees becoming increasingly aware of their rights but many SMEs simply have not had appropriate policies to avoid the problem in the first instance. This can lead to employees facing disciplinary action claiming that, in mitigation, they did not know that they had crossed the fine line.
We recently supported a client (an employee) in claiming constructive dismissal following a year of bullying and harassment from her senior manager. Not only did the employer not have any policy or guidelines, but it then failed to introduce any such policy when the employee raised her initial grievance a year earlier. To compound the problem, the employee was subsequently ignored and excluded from team meetings and was then advised that she had not been promoted “Because you are part-time.
Had the employer had a robust policy in place, the directors would have been able to identify a training need for the team leader and the problem would have been nipped in the bud at low cost. Likewise, support from an HR professional would have identified some of the key indicators that a bullying culture existed in that workplace, i. absenteeism, low morale and intra team conflict.
Apparently many business owners are so wrapped up in developing the business development and delighting their customers that they sometimes forget about the importance of retaining their employees…. or at least the good employees.
07 Aug 2010 BREAKING POINT Are we handling the deluge of graduates properly?
When young jobseekers start committing suicide through utter desperation at being unable to secure even the lowest paid jobs – then we must sit up and take notice.
Earlier this year Vicky Harrison, from Lancashire, aged just 21, ended her life with an overdose.
Vicky was bright, had no mental illness, had reasonable A-levels but had dropped out of university and was being turned down for about a dozen jobs every week for about two years. These weren’t highly paid jobs in sectors you would expect fierce competition, she was applying for nursery nurse vacancies, a dinner lady role and waitressing.
Growing queue
For students who do complete university, they are lumbered with debts and therefore their expectations for a good salary are high, their chances are very low; with 70 applications for every graduate vacancy, an average of £13,000 debt and an average opening salary for graduates of £14,000. So what has happened? Can we simply blame the recession or public sector streamlining - the public sector having traditionally been one of the largest graduate employers in recent years.
Cynics of the Higher Education legacy left by New Labour will say exams are too easy and there are far too many university places – but what does that matter when there aren’t any jobs for non-graduate young jobseekers either?
University minister David Willets seems unperturbed by the disturbing figure of 25 per cent unemployment, insisting it was positive that employers were still taking on graduates.
However, those on the front line of graduate recruitment are less certain.
“I find it really confusing at the minute,” admits chief executive of the Association for Graduate Recruiters Carl Gilliard, “because our recent survey shows a further fall in graduate vacancies and that is pretty consistent with the economy and it is the economic uncertainty which makes businesses think twice about expansion; but when you look closely at individual sectors there are a number of sectors which are taking their brakes off, including banking. Some of them are taking on considerable numbers.”
Carl has recently described the jobs market being like a haystack which is getting bigger, and the good graduates as needles becoming increasingly harder to find.
He continues: “On the other extreme you have sectors which are not performing at all well such as public sector, retail being another. It is becoming an increasingly difficult market to read. Even within sectors you can get mixed messages.
“So from a graduate perspective, leaving university in 2010, is a very tough market and the evidence is the number of applicants for each graduate job is around 70,” however Carl admits that this doesn’t necessarily mean good news for employers. “They need to find a way of finding the best talent out of those candidates. If you have got 100 vacancies then you are looking at an average of 7,000 applications to get through. Our report also showed that one of the things employers are doing is raising the bar, more employers are asking for a 2:1 as a very simple and straightforward message to tell graduates they need to be at a certain level. The only problem with that is that it will be seen as a national standard, so a 2:1 from one course or university is not necessarily equated from one from another course or a different university.
“This will be used to get numbers down to some extent.”
Cuts effect
So what does Carl think about the prospects for the class of 2011, or those from 2010 still looking for an appropriate job? “I have mixed feelings about next year,” he says, “I am quite clear about the direction I think it is going, but a lot of it depends on the success of the current government. They need to implement a new economic strategy for the UK and cutting back on public spending will inevitably have a knock-on effect on graduate jobs.
“We mustn’t forget the public sector has been a large-scale employer of graduates – not just for graduate training programmes but for permanent roles as well. My background was in the public sector and for years I was recruiting graduates. If that dries up because of a recruitment-freeze then that is going to impact on the overall position for graduates.
“Add to that another angle as to why applications rose this year, those graduates from 2009 who haven’t found work are also applying – this is creating a bottle neck.
“Having said that, which is rather depressing, I talk to recruiters from across all sectors and some of them are quite upbeat about next year, they are already planning on increasing intakes. We are holding our breaths.
“Normally when you employ graduates you are planning a couple of years ahead, ‘what is the business going to be like in two or three years time?’ and getting the people in now, develop them and so when the upturn comes they will be able to take full advantage of the trained workforce.
“I think it is to the credit of the business sector that they have kept the programme rather than what we experienced in the early 1990s when lots and lots of schemes closed down overnight. They have learnt their lessons as they don’t want to be caught out. So again it means economic strategy is vital.
“There is an opening up of the whole debate as to what higher education is for, and whether we are producing too many graduates etc.
So if you are a 2010 graduate, according to Carl, your chances of success are very dependent on the state of your application: “I have seen some application forms and honestly I can’t believe they are from graduates – no selling of themselves, no marketing, spelling mistakes, so for me it is really important that they broaden and become flexible in their career aspirations. If you have not got an interest in a particular job then that will definitely come through in your application,” Carl asserts.
“The best advice I can give is for candidates to do their research – there are jobs out there for them.
We did a small straw poll of our members in June and 30 per cent were still accepting applications. It`s not hundreds of thousands of jobs, but they are still recruiting. We are getting into another recruitment round now, the important thing for a 2010 graduate is to make sure they get involved in something productive, even if it is not what they want to long-term, a job is better than no job.”
Worrying figures
But there is something deeply worrying behind the figures showing that university graduates and students are finding it increasingly difficult to find even low paid employment. Debts will snowball and there will be a burgeoning dependence on parents.
A world where even unpaid internships for eager, bright and qualified individuals are sought after is surely back to front.
It has been suggested 270 students are competing for every graduate job in the consumer goods industry this year with the most sought after roles being within marketing in companies such as Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Mars and L’Oreal.
Another astonishing stat is that more than 100 students have applied for every job in the media this year with 75 applying for each banking vacancy.
Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, has said that Graduates starting jobs in the City were also much more likely to receive a bumper starting salary with basic pay at £42,000.
In its latest study, High Fliers researchers surveyed 16,000 final year students and analysed the recruitment patterns of 100 leading companies.
And Martin says: “With a record number of students graduating from UK universities over the next few weeks, it’s great news that Britain’s best-known and most sought-after employers have stepped-up their graduate recruitment substantially for 2010, restoring many of the entry-level vacancies that were cut over the last two years.
“But university-leavers from the ‘Class of 2010’ are still facing huge competition to land a good
graduate job this summer. Employers have already received an unprecedented number of
applications this year for their graduate vacancies and many organisations have now filled all
their places for 2010 or have closed-off their applications early.”
IN A SEPARATE BOX
Highlights from High Fliers research The Graduate Market in 2010 include:
• The UK’s leading graduate employers have increased their vacancies by 17.9%
• Employers in eleven of fourteen key industries and employment areas are hiring more
graduates in 2010.
• The City’s top investment banks have hired a third more graduates than in 2009, having
halved their recruitment over the past two years.
• The sector taking on most graduates in 2010 are accountancy (over 3,950 graduate jobs),
investment banks (more than 2,200 positions); and the public sector (over 2,180 positions); the
smallest graduate employers are those in chemicals & pharmaceuticals (0.4% of total) and the
consumer goods manufacturers (1.1% of total).
• In total, Britain’s top employers have recruited 16,288 graduates to start work later this year,
compared with 13,817 graduate jobs that were available at the same organisations in 2009.
05 Aug 2010 UK OVERWORKED Randstad survey reveals UK workers struggle A survey on the latest trends in job market sentiments and employee expectations by Randstad, reveals that employees in the UK are working harder than ever with 40% finding it difficult to fit in enough time off.
The Randstad quarterly workmonitor survey has found that around two-thirds (67%) of UK workers believe that their workload increased in the second quarter of 2010, suggesting that staff need a break more than ever. Yet 40% believe that their workload does not allow them to take the amount of time off they would like and that fitting in holidays with colleagues is getting harder. With 63% of workers feeling they have to work harder when colleagues are away.
Even when they do go on holiday, workers find it difficult to switch off. The workmonitor survey found that nearly half of UK employees think a lot about work when they are away, while 43% receive questions and emails from colleagues during their break. The majority (61%) find that work has stacked up while they are on holiday and they are therefore busier when they get back.
Ruth Jacobs, Operations Director for Randstad Staffing, said: “Our survey indicates that taking a proper break is getting harder and productivity is suffering as a result. Flex cover over the holiday period would enable companies to meet deadlines and prevent colleagues from taking the strain of their co-workers being away, while allowing staff to enjoy their full allocation of leave and come back refreshed.”
contentment rises the more we work
The workmonitor survey surprisingly revealed, the longer we toil, the better we feel. Of the people surveyed who work more than 40 hours per week, 65% are satisfied. Satisfaction dips the fewer hours that are worked – of the people who work 25-32 hours, 55% are satisfied.
public sector job fears rise, while private sector concerns fall
Job losses among public sector workers rose in the second quarter of 2010, but is still some way behind the private sector.
Up until recently, the private sector had borne the brunt of the job losses in the downturn. Now, thousands of civil servants and council workers are facing redundancy as the government moves to combat the deficit. The latest Randstad workmonitor survey reveals that the proportion of public sector workers who are concerned about losing their job has risen from 29% to 35%.
These figures are in line with Greece, the country at the forefront of the EU-wide austerity drive, where 27% of public sector workers are concerned about redundancy, up from 12% at the beginning of the year.
Job worries among private sector employees in the UK have gone down in 2010, but are still noticeably higher than the public sector.
fear of age discrimination
Interestingly, the fear of age discrimination fuels growing doubts about job security and employability. Nearly half of younger workers (18-24) in the UK have major concerns about losing their job, the highest of any age group. Nearly 90% of older workers (55 plus) would like to change jobs, but are far less confident about getting one than their younger counterparts. The survey finds that younger workers’ fear of losing their job rose sharply during the first half of 2010 – 48% of 18-24 year-olds are now very or fairly concerned compared to just 22% of 44-55 year-olds. This suggests that despite age legislation, younger workers can feel particularly vulnerable to the ‘last in, first out’ approach to redundancies.
Fear of discrimination is equally evident at the other end of the age spectrum. The survey reveals that 87% of workers aged over 55 would like a new job, the highest of any age group. Yet confidence declines sharply with age. Only 41% of older workers believe they can secure a comparable job in contrast to 82% of 18-24 year-olds and 79% of 25-34 year-olds.
01 Aug 2010 HELPFUL WAGE CUT Interim executives would take massive pay cut to keep public sector job
With public sector cuts looming large a survey has revealed interim executives would be willing to take pay cuts of up to 40 per cent.
IMS Executive Ltd. surveyed 2,000 interim executives with public sector experience to check their willingness to charge lower day rates.
The research provoked strong reactions since many interims had already cut rates to the bone in 2008/2009. Of those in the £500 to £900 day rate bracket, 53 per cent would consider cuts of between 10 per cent and 24 per cent.
The average reduction was 14 per cent.
At the lower end, a few interims would consider huge reductions up to 40 per cent to keep working.
IMS Executive sales and marketing director, Tony Shearing: “This week when Francis Maude highlighted the enormous financial cost to taxpayers of senior civil servants who cost too much to be made redundant, it makes even more economic sense to take on skilled Interims for short-term, specific tasks. They are not entitled to employment benefits such as redundancy pay!
“Interim executives are a breed apart from permanent staff. They have unique skills, insight and experience in change and project management and the key benefit is you acquire an individual who is accountable for delivery.”
“In a bid to cut costs, an error some government departments make is to second permanent staff into change management roles for which they do not have the skills or experience. Research shows that only a third of public sector change projects achieve all their objectives, on time and on budget. Getting permanent staff to implement change-management projects is like getting firemen to sell Ladies' underwear! They are just not trained to do it so why would anyone take the risk?”
Women who want to progress in their career should avoid career breaks according to more than half headhunters surveyed.
More than half of headhunters believe that women will have to forsake a career break in order to reach the top senior executive positions.
This comes according to a new report by InterExec, the confidential agent for executives seeking over £150k.
The report, which is based on a survey carried out by InterExec among 100 of the UK’s leading headhunters, has shown that while 51 per cent of headhunters believe that there will be more women in top positions in the future, when asked ‘if women are looking to compete on an equal footing, and assuming they are equally well qualified, do you think that they will have to forsake a career break (for any reason), thus having comparable experience in order to reach the top positions”, 53 per cent said yes.
Kit Scott Brown, chief executive of InterExec, said: “Many of the top headhunters were keen to see more women in senior executive positions, but at the same time believed that, in order to reach those top positions, many of them would unfortunately have to give up any career break, whether it be for health reasons, to travel, or, in particular, to have children. The demands of working in a top executive position are such that, by taking time out – even for a few months - many headhunters felt that women would be losing out on important opportunities to progress their career.”
Travel and subsistence schemes clarified by Government in light of minimum wage.
The Government has clarified how travel and subsistence schemes will marry up with the National Minimum Wage.
According to the REC yesterday’s announcement makes it clear that any payments made for such expenses will have to be in addition to the minimum wage.
The proposed changes will take effect on 1st January 2011 and Anne Fairweather, pictured, the REC’s head of public policy, said: "Moves to create a level playing field at the lower end of the market are welcomed. The use of travel and subsistence schemes to substantially reduce the cost of supply of workers on minimum wage had created distortions which were not sustainable. We are pleased that the Government has finally taken action on this issue after two years of campaigning by the REC."
The REC has summarised how the changes will be implemented:
The National Minimum Wage Regulations include provisions which set out how a worker’s pay is calculated and determine whether or not the worker is receiving at least National Minimum Wage (NMW).
• The current Regulations list certain payments that are made by the employer to a worker which are ignored when calculating the worker’s pay, i.e. the employer is not allowed to use these payments to meet the NMW.
• The proposed amendment to the regulations, announced today, will mean that the payments made by an employer to a worker for travel and subsistence will be added to this list. As a result, employers will need to ensure that they pay their workers the NMW in addition to the payments under the travel and subsistence schemes.
A report has issued a warning that the UK may fall behind other economies if skills are not invested in.
The UK is in danger of falling behind other leading economies if the issue of skills is not dealt with by the new Govenrment.
The Chartered Insurance Institute has published Investing in Tomorrow’s Skills Today - a CII prospectus for skills which claims that the entire skills landscape requires an overhaul if Britain is to continue to compete as a leading global economy.
It calls on Government to recognise and work better with the existing non-state skills providers like professional bodies.
The report emphasises the importance of investing in skills through an economic downturn to ensure Britain remains competitive, particularly in areas like insurance and financial services.
The CII report sets out a seven point plan for skills:
Simplification – The new government needs to streamline the skills system. We believe this will lead to cost reductions and an improved, easier to engage with network.
Stable policy framework - There needs to be an end to constant policy changes – the shifting sands help no one. The skills agenda has to be consistent.
Long term goals – Government, employers and skills bodies have to remain focused on long term goals, whilst responding to some short term needs.
Professional bodies – The new government should make better use of professional bodies. They have the experience, expertise and employer relationships and crucially this is at no cost to the public purse.
Education – The new government needs to ensure that the education system provides students with a strong grounding in the basics, such as literacy and numeracy, so that employers can focus on developing relevant technical skills.
Careers advice – The new government needs to implement an improved system of careers advice. Employers and other interested organisations need to be involved far more in providing potential recruits with quality information.
Lifelong learning – Employers need to support all employees, not just new recruits. The ever changing and increasingly competitive world means that firms and individuals need to ensure they have the skills to succeed.
Chris Hanks, president of the CII, said: “We face a critical juncture in the development of skills in the UK. A strong skills base is the lifeblood of any economy but as the new government and employers alike wrestle with harsh economic realities there is the temptation to cut back on skills related spending. Yet it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s a question of making what money there is work smarter and harder to deliver economically valuable skills.
“The current skills system is a tangled mess of agencies and organisations. Not only is it difficult for employers and individuals to engage with, its bureaucracy consumes large amounts of public money and in some cases funds activities already performed by bodies that do not cost the exchequer a penny.
“Last week’s Skills paper from the Government is a welcome first step in acknowledging many of the concerns we have been expressing. However we hope these words will be followed by deeds. The Government cannot afford to ignore the successful work of professional bodies in developing skills of the nation – especially in sectors like insurance where there is little or no public money but where there is strong employer support.
“The CII and many similar professional bodies have a long and proven track record in developing skills that boost the UK economy at no cost to the public purse. In these testing times this is something that the new government should not only acknowledge but also utilise.
“As a nation, we should not under estimate the importance of investing in skills training, even during tough economic times. As the UK undergoes economic and political change we must grasp the nettle of investing in tomorrow’s skills today or feel the loss tomorrow.”
The need for financial sector compliance has seen a 13 per cent rise in roles.
The need for hedge fund and asset manager compliance in the wake of the banking crisis has seen IT needs increase 13 per cent in the last six months.
Due to regulation companies are revamping their IT systems according to ReThink Recruitment (ReThink) the business and technology staffing company, and average pay for front office trading systems is now £700 per day – up from £620.
ReThink says that one fund manager it works for aims to increase the size of its IT department by 75 per cent from 20 to 35 by the end of the year.
The forthcoming Basel III rules and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, for example, will both require greater transparency and disclosure from asset and hedge fund managers.
Fhamid Malik, head of financial services, ReThink Recruitment, said: “A large number of funds are re-architecting their front office systems. Much of the impetus for this is regulatory pressure. They are upgrading reporting systems to enable better monitoring and tracking of complex transactions.”
“Funds are under intense regulatory scrutiny. There are numerous SEC and FSA investigations under way which, together with a slew of proposed financial market reforms, are heaping pressure on funds to beef up their risk and compliance processes. IT is critical to this.”
He adds: “Buy-backs, where an existing employer makes a counter-offer to stop a candidate leaving, are back to pre-credit crunch levels. For senior level IT roles, most will match the candidate’s offer and throw in an extra 10 to 15 per cent on top.”
The board responsible for setting the minimum wage for farm labourers is abolished.
The abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board has been welcomed by the Association of Labour Providers.
DEFRA minister Caroline Spelman announced the quango was to be dismantled on Thursday.
Last week’s decision means an end to the separate minimum wage for the farming industry, long campaigned for by the ALP.
The ALP sent DEFRA a list of eight reasons as to why the wage was unfair:
• There is no logical reason why there should be separate arrangements for a minimum wage in only one sector, which has no unique characteristics justifying special arrangements.
• There is no natural boundary between work subject to the AMW and the National Minimum Wage (NMW). As a result, the current arrangements cause absurdities and distort behaviour.
• The AMW is unnecessarily complicated which makes it difficult to understand and to operate, particularly when the same workers may be subject to AMW and NMW regulations in the same working period.
• The AMW is widely ignored by farmers; enforcement by Defra is complaint driven and very small scale. By contrast, large scale labour providers licensed by the GLA are subject to compliance checks.
• There are good legal grounds for arguing that the AMW arrangements cannot be applied to most workers supplied by agencies.
• The arrangements, if applied, work to the disadvantage of many workers by denying them the opportunity to work the hours they want.
• Unifying the arrangements for minimum wage would be in line with the government’s policy of rationalisation of regulation and reducing administrative burdens.
The abolition of the agricultural minimum wage and the plethora of bureaucracy surrounding it will allow for harmonisation of employment terms with all other workers in England and Wales and reduce the burden of regulation on farmers and labour providers.
23 July 2010
Workers are still feeling the worst of the recession according to the CIPD’s latest Employee Outlook Survey.
The public sector is feeling the effects most keenly according to the report.
It suggests ‘worsening standards of living, falling job satisfaction, and high levels of job insecurity’ despite today’s GDP figures showing a further climb out of the downturn.
The survey shows employees are three times more likely to report their standard of living has worsened over the last three months than to say it has improved, a greater number than the previous quarter.
Forty per cent of organisations have either frozen pay while seven per cent have cut pay; 31 per cent have already made redundancies and 16 per cent are planning to trim their workforces.
The survey points to a ‘deterioration among public sector employees’ attitudes towards their jobs and management, as the impact of government spending cuts on jobs, pay and benefits becomes clearer.’
A quarter believe they will lose their jobs, satisfaction has fallen and only 16 per cent say they trust their management.
Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser, CIPD, said: “Today’s official GDP figures may suggest that the UK economy is continuing to move away from recession, however the reality for many in the workplace is that they still feel like they are in the grip of a severe economic downturn.
“Against this background it is worrying to see that public sector employees have increasingly negative attitudes to their senior managers, with less than a fifth saying they trust senior managers or are consulted by them on important decisions.
“One of the difficulties facing senior public sector managers in the current environment, in which major spending cuts have been announced but few details have been released, is that they too may also be in the dark and may not yet know how many jobs will have to go. However it is important that, if this is the case, they communicate the situation to staff and continue to have an open dialogue with employees as more information comes through. People are more likely to accept tough decisions if they are kept informed and given the right information at the right time.
“The government also has a key role to help rebuild trust in public sector leadership by allowing adequate consultation with employees over proposed changes to public service delivery so staff feel that their views have been taken into account before decisions are made.”
London has been left with a balance issue as job growth leads to skilled candidate shortage.
It has been predicted that by Q4 this year there will only be 10 skilled candidates for every 12 financial and professional service vacancies.
This contrasts with the depths of the recession when there were 10 skilled candidates for every three vacancies.
However, growth within interest rates, structured rates and structured credit has increased demand for skills and experience in these areas.
These figures are according to research from Ambition, the global financial and professional services recruitment firm.
The stats show a massive gulf between the burgeoning City jobs landscape and the grad market in which 75 candidates are applying to every financial services and investment banking graduate job.
Tim Gilbert, UK managing director of Ambition, said: “Businesses now demand more full and varied skill sets from candidates in order to maximise their value to the business. Any candidate that fits the bill is being snapped up and well rewarded in order to retain them. This has left a very shallow talent pool.
“We’re not expecting a fall in the number of jobs available in London. But even if job growth does slow slightly there won’t be huge numbers of experienced candidates suddenly appearing on the market. This will leave businesses in a number of sectors fighting over talent. As a result you can expect wage inflation – particularly base salary inflation – and more valuable counteroffers being handed out.”
Firms within the professional services are also suffering from a lack of experienced candidates. Many candidates are staying in their current roles, waiting for long overdue salary reviews to be announced in the next few months. Similarly, many in the legal sector are being offered attractive packages and more diverse roles in order to deter them from moving.
Skilled temporary candidates within the financial services industry have seen their rates rise dramatically over the last six months as a result of the increased demand. Experienced product controllers who were receiving £300 - £350 per day in January can now expect to command £350 to £450 per day. A median increase of 23%.
On the permanent side, skilled financial services candidates are being awarded generous counter-offers in order to remain in their roles. Increases of £10,000 - £15,000 on top of base salaries of around £55,000 are not uncommon.
Despite the rise in cloud computing IT workers are confident it will create more jobs
A CWJobs survey has shown 40 per cent of IT workers think the developing trend of cloud computing will not be perverse for the sector’s growth.
Only 28 per cent believe it will mean less. In expectation of the career prospects, while 70 per cent believe cloud computing skills and experience will make them more employable.
The survey of 1,300 IT professionals, revealed that 75 per cent felt they would need to gain ‘new skills and experience’ to work with the technology, suggesting a lack of understanding around exactly what will facilitate a job in cloud computing.
Richard Nott, website director of CWJobs said: “It is encouraging to see that IT professionals recognise the career opportunities emerging from the rise of cloud computing. However, confusion evidently surrounds how candidates can best bolster their CVs for these opportunities.
“While it is not yet clear which specific skills will be useful for cloud computing, the majority of IT professionals do believe there will be a need to adapt to capitalise on the changing IT landscape and that now is the time to do this
Marketing and design jobs in the UK is expected to see a third rise in roles for the rest of the year.
Figures are according to the new European Market Eye report from the industry’s specialist recruitment consultancy Aquent.
The survey of marketers as well as advertising, design and digital agencies found that three in five organisations predict a rise in permanent staff.
The number of organisations increasing salaries looks set to double throughout the remainder of 2010, with 32 per cent expecting pay rises over the next six months compared to just 16% over the last half year.
The digital sector seems to be leading the way in this recovery, with 45% of digital agencies expecting to boost salaries. Almost two thirds (60 per cent)of organisations reported an increase in permanent staff, and a massive 80% are predicting a further rise in employees, indicating a very strong first half year performance in the sector.
“The UK marketing and design sector was hit hard by the global downturn and after 18 months of little hiring across the industry, we’re certainly now seeing signs of recovery and the market hotting up” comments Peter Geary, Aquent’s UK Regional Director. “It is especially interesting to see the boom in recruitment for the digital sector as web 2.0 becomes an increasingly important tool for businesses looking for new ways to engage with their customers. It is very reassuring to see these measurable signs of confidence returning and companies beginning to plan for the future again.”
14 July 2010 MOD RECRUITMENT SLUR The Ministry of Defence’s recruitment practice in schools has been called into question by an MSP who claims it is deliberately targeting children.
Christine Grahame claims the MoD is lying that it enters schools, including primary and nursery, only after being invited by a teacher.
According to the Daily Telegraph she has obtained documents showing that the British military is lying over its assurances and is accusing the MoD of deliberately targeting young children in an attempt to boost its “flagging recruitment targets.”
This was denied by one of Scotland’s most senior Army officers, who said it receives numerous requests from schools for soldiers to attend classes but this is never used to recruit.
According to the Telegraph Miss Grahame has previously stirred controversy by stating she does not consider the Armed Forces a good career and recruiters are targeting pupils in poor areas of Scotland who want to escape the effects of the recession.
She said: “The MoD said that access is only ever allowed following invitation, but as I have demonstrated there is simply no paper trail and no evidence to support that claim as I had suspected.”
“These latest documents show that not only is the recruitment strategy aimed at children in primary schools, but that representatives of the armed forces are now routinely going into nursery schools too.”
“Schools are for educating our young, and not a ‘recruitment opportunity’ for a Ministry of Defence increasingly desperate to meet its flagging recruitment targets.”
Public sector cuts may have had a palpable effect on employer confidence according to a trade association survey due to be published later this week.
The report from Recruitment and Employment Confederation highlights increased uncertainty in employers’ hiring intentions following the threat of large scale job cuts in the public sector.
The REC said: “The easing in confidence has hit the short term demand for temporary and contract staff which had been building in recent months.
“Nearly one in five (18 per cent) of employers surveyed said their short-term use of contingent labour would increase in the next quarter, compared to 23 per cent last month. Demand for permanent hire over the same period has remained static with 14 per cent of employers predicting growth.”
Roger Tweedy, the REC's director of research, pictured, said: “The uncertainty of the wider global economic situation and the contents of the much anticipated emergency budget have made it difficult for employers to be more positive about their hiring intentions at this stage. The longer term trends are encouraging but we may now have to wait until the autumn for further positive momentum to return to the labour market.
“As public spending cuts begin in earnest, we believe flexible temporary and interim staffing will be essential to the ultimate re-engineering of the sector. At the same time, the private sector will increase its reliance on the same resource to cushion it from continued economic uncertainty and to access rare skills.”
“We will be using the JobsOutlook survey to monitor the impact of budget cuts to both the public and private sector. Currently 17 per cent of public sector organisations think the cuts will have a very serious impact.”
Private sector growth may not be rapid enough to soak up public sector redundancies.
Despite growth reported in major recruiters` coffers these have seemingly been boosted by overseas recovery, including Hays.
Hays has said only Scotland and Northern Ireland had not recovered adequately the UK private sector was absorbing public sector job losses.
Chief executive Alastair Cox said: "In the UK, as expected, we have seen continuing weakness in certain parts of the public sector, which collectively represent less than 10 per cent of group net fees. This has been offset by growth in the private sector."
He added: "Whilst we remain mindful of the risks to the economic recovery in many of the countries in which we operate, the outlook in our markets continues to improve."
Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), was less confident the private sector was improving quickly enough and has said to Sky News: "The big question is if the private sector is growing fast enough to absorb the surge of people from the public sector.
"There is a lot of hesitancy regarding jobs and people are not sure what's going to happen from here on."
He added the staffing industry was waiting to see the effects of the new government`s cuts but had proved its robustness during the recession.
A major event is being staged by the British Forces Resettlement Services (BFRS) ahead of an anticipated surge in ex-Forces personnel flooding the civilian jobs market.
The BFRS will be holding a networking event in Aldershot on September 16 to help past, present and future service leavers and their family members access a range of support organisations and find meaningful employment.
It comes amid reports that 45,000 personnel will be leaving the Forces later this year, 20,000 of which will be a result of the defence review. The event also follows the success of the BFRS’ groundbreaking networking event which was also staged in Aldershot last year.
Gethin Roberts, director of BFRS, said: “45,000 Forces personnel leaving the Services is incredibly worrying, especially at a time when the economy remains in such a fragile state and the jobs market is becoming increasingly saturated.
“Figures have highlighted that 25,000 are leaving through ‘natural wastage’ while 20,000 will be flooding the civilian jobs market due to major military cuts. Our event is aimed at helping prepare these personnel for the transition from military to civilian life.”
The BFRS event will also include practical sessions in areas such as CV writing where common mistakes often make the transition to civilian life more difficult.
Mr Roberts added: “Having a first-class CV is vital in taking those first steps back into the civilian workplace but can pose problems for some people. In addition to networking, our event is aimed at helping ex-Forces or soon-to-be ex-Forces personnel address those issues and put them in a stronger position to market themselves in the civilian world of work.”
An 18 per cent slump in City job vacancies has been revealed as worries over double-dip recession strengthen.
Research by Astbury Marsden, a leading financial services recruitment firm, has also suggested the number of new City job vacancies created in June was 5,100 down from May’s 6,238.
Astbury Marsden says that the fall over the last month is the first significant hit after a nine month boom in the City jobs market.
Mark Cameron, chief operating officer at Astbury Marsden, says: “Worries over the European banking sector have taken the froth off the jobs market.”
“There is still an awful lot of hiring going on, it is just that the pace has changed down one gear, which will keep wages from overheating. That is good news for the industry as it is a lot more sustainable.”
“Nearly all the banks are now being pretty prudent. They are only hiring on their immediate pipeline of work rather than the work they hope to get.”
Despite a slow-down in growth the REC/KPMG Report on Jobs for June has shown a further strong rise in permanent placements.
The report has also shown the continual seven-month growth of temporary billings has also slowed however, wages and salaries continued to rise although the increases remained below the respective averages for the series since data were first available in October 1997.
REC chief executive Kevin Green said: “Demand for permanent staff continues to grow. This is an encouraging sign that the jobs market is stable and, in some sectors such as construction and engineering, rapidly growing. However, with the predictions of up to 600,000 job losses in the public sector, it is still too early to tell how much of a knock-on effect this will have on job creation in the private sector.
“Our main concern is how the near million young jobseekers are going to get their first role in a highly competitive jobs market. This problem can only escalate due to the thousands of graduates and school-leavers who will be seeking employment in the coming months. Youth unemployment is one of the most pressing issues we currently face in the UK and needs to be urgently addressed. Our Youth Employment Taskforce has been looking at how Government, business and educationalists can come together to provide practical solutions to the problem and prevent a ‘lost generation’ of workers.”
Despite thousands of graduates flooding the jobs market and many redundant workers looking for a suitable role a study has shown a huge UK skills gap.
The study by Capita Learning and Development has shown a majority (70 per cent) of business leaders ‘fear that inadequate staff skills are the greatest threat to their ability to capitalise on the recovery.’
It also suggested more than two thirds of business leaders admit that their under-trained workforce is struggling to cope with expanded job remits following waves of job cuts during recession.
It also claims 40 per cent of leaders – from the countries’ top 500 companies - quizzed estimate that at least half of employee skills risk becoming obsolete through lack of training adaption to strategic change.
Chris Sharp, managing director, Capita Learning and Development, said: “The post-recession landscape demands a range of new skills. Yet the UK workforce is critically lacking essential capabilities.
“Firms have failed to provide the right training through turbulent times and arm their staff with the skills needed for recovery. There is a real risk that this will leave UK Plc exposed when the upturn finally arrives.”
The hunt is on for Britain’s next generation of headhunters with the opening of the UK’s first and only exclusive headhunter training academy on August 2.
Established through collaboration between two of the country’s leading executive search and selection consultancies and backed by an internationally renowned recruitment trainer, the Headhunter Training Academy is widely anticipated to set a new benchmark for excellence within the recruitment industry and widen the gap between executive consultancies and traditional high street recruiters.
Located in Altrincham the Headhunter Training Academy is the product of a partnership between two of the recruitment industry’s leading players, Executive Headhunters Ltd and the Elliot Marsh Ltd, and backed by Mike Walmsley – founder of Elite Leaders and one of the UK’s foremost expert trainer’s for the recruitment industry. And they are on the look-out for people who have the talent, ambition, and drive to become the best in class and leading headhunters.
The Headhunter Training Academy (HTA) is seeking the most promising high achievers across all industry sectors to become part of their team and undergo an intensive 12-week, high level training programme that will equip participants with the skills they need to maximise every sales opportunity, achieve their objectives, gain a competitive advantage over their peers, and realise their career ambitions. But a background in recruitment is not a pre-requisite for being accepted on the course and being successfully placed with either Executive Headhunters or Elliot Marsh Ltd.
“Experience within the recruitment industry is not essential. What is more important are the applicant’s intrinsic drive to succeed and their determination to be the best in their profession,” said Phil Sharp, managing director of HTA. “We are looking for people with the intelligence and resourcefulness to hold their own and excel in what is one of the fastest growing and competitive industries over the last 15 years.”
“We are particularly interested in high achievers either academically or in their chosen careers to date who can demonstrate the potential to progress successfully through the ranks, such as graduates, professionals who are looking to change their career for one that offers significant rewards in addition to those with previous sales experience and a comprehensive knowledge of their particular industry.
Following an initial telephone interview to assess their suitability successful candidates will attend a one-day assessment centre run by the Academy’s dedicated Learning and Development team and some of the biggest names in international recruitment training. But the learning doesn’t stop there. The Academy will consolidate the candidate’s strengths by placing them under the tutelage of an experienced top-level headhunter for 12 weeks, who will ensure their headhunting career gets off to the best possible start, combined with weekly training sessions from the director’s of the business and unrivalled access to some of the biggest names in the recruitment industry.
For more information about the Headhunter Training Academy, applicants can apply online at www.theheadhunteracademy.co.uk.
The Reed Job Index has shown job opportunities have levelled out in the last two months with salaries still a touch depressed.
Demand for more strategic posts, where a longer-term benefit is anticipated, fell. Areas such as Marketing & PR and Strategy & Consultancy dropped back from last month’s highs, as did job demand in the Charity & Voluntary sector.
Public Sector demand also dropped back compared to last month’s high, as might have been expected following the Budget’s announcement of job freezes: the Public Sector Job Index figure fell to 74 in June, a drop of 20 Index points compared to May.
Martin Warnes, Managing Director of reed.co.uk, said: "The UK jobs market seems to have held its breath in June. Yes, there's been change beneath the steady headline figures, with new green shoots visible across the economy alongside areas where demand has edged down. There are enough signs of emerging optimism to support the Government's hopes that - especially now the Budget and all the distractions of the World Cup and Wimbledon are behind us - the private sector will begin to accelerate job creation However on these figures, it is too early to call.”