It has been suggested that the figures have been partly driven lower by an increase in the number of people taking on part-time roles when they would actually prefer to be in a full time positions. Out of the 8m part-time workers in the UK, 1.42m would prefer to be in a full time position, this being a record number.

Briton’s unemployment rate of 8.2% is still favourable to that if the EU average of 10.9% but slightly higher than the USA’s rate of 8.1%.

Here at Downtown Recruitment we are finding the market fairly resilient on both the temporary and permanent side of the business.  Unemployment in the Aylesbury area is approx 2.3% and as low as 1.1% in Henley area so this is very different from the national average.

Earnings growth (excluding bonuses) in the last year has averaged 1.6%, which is barely half the current rate of 3.5% for consumer inflation pushing down real earnings but perhaps supporting the employment levels.

Commenting on the trend, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of Policy & Professional Services, says:

“We will continue to monitor the impact of Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) on temp to perm and on the overall use of agency staff. Although the regulations have created significant administrative costs for agencies, the overall feedback from recruiters remains upbeat with regards to the ongoing benefits that temporary and contract work provides for both employers and job-seekers.

“The importance of generating effective steeping-stone back into the jobs market is especially topical in light of the current debate on the Government’s work experience scheme. Short-term placements can often lead to further opportunities, which is certainly something we are seeing in the temporary work market.”

A key part of the REC’s work is to focus on the ongoing benefits of agency work through the monthly JobsOutlook survey as well as through initiatives such as the Flexible Work Commission and through specific research such as the ‘Talent Acquisition in Turbulent Times’ report.

For more information on preventing illegal working click here.

1.  Can you do the job?
2.  Will you love the job?
3.  Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it.  Those three.  Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions.  Click Here for Full Story

The qualification period to bring a claim of unfair dismissal will rise from 1 year to 2 years from 6th April 2012.

The weekly rate for Statutory Sick Pay will increase to £85.85 from 9th April 2012.  Maternity, Paternity and Adoption pay will increase to £135.45.

There will be an extra bank holiday on 5th June 2012 for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

January’s JobsOutlook survey, which tracks future hiring intentions rather than actual placements, confirms that many employers are now waiting for an upturn in economic prospects before they commit to growing their workforce.

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UK unemployment rose by 128,000 in the three months to October to 2.64 million, the highest level since 1994.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate was 8.3%, up from 7.9% in the previous quarter.

Youth unemployment rose to 1.027 million, the highest since records began in 1992, beating the previous record set only last month.

The number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 3,000 to 1.6 million in November.

However, the rate of increase in the claimant count showed signs of slowing down.

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“The latest Reed Job Index shows that confidence about the future has continued to increase right across the private sector, in spite of last week’s gloomy economic pronouncements,” says James Reed, Chairman of reed.co.uk’s parent company Reed Global. “Not only is employer demand up by twenty per cent year on year, newly available private sector jobs are at their highest level since the dark days which followed the last banking crisis.”