Employers Plan to Boost Permanent Staff Numbers - REC

The first few weeks of 2014 have seen a significant boost in both employers’ confidence and their willingness to make more permanent job offers, the latest JobsOutlook survey from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has found.

The REC ‘Jobs Barometer’, which is calculated from employers’ responses to questions about their hiring intentions and economic outlook has reached a peak of 38. This is 11 points higher than at the same time last year, and the highest score since the survey began in March 2009.

Asked about their plans for permanent headcounts in both the short and medium term:

• 69% employers say they will make more offers of permanent work in the next 3 months, up 4 points from January’s survey.
• 72% say they will directly employ more staff over the next 4-12 months, up 13 points since January.

When planning about future use of agency workers:

• 47% employers predict they will increase their use of temps over the next 3 months
  
• 46% say they will engage more agency workers over the next 4-12 months.

The REC’s director of policy Tom Hadley says:

“This month’s survey shows a significant jump in the number of employers who are planning to create more permanent jobs in both the short and medium term. This is a reflection of employers’ growing confidence in the wider economic recovery as well as their belief in their own businesses.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The REC’s JobsOutlook tracking survey reports the responses of 600 employers questioned about their hiring intentions over the next quarter and the next year. Respondents are drawn from across the public, private and non-profit sector, and from across a range of industries and sizes of organisation.

2. For more information, contact the REC Press Office on 0207 009 2157/2192 or pressoffice@rec.uk.com. An ISDN line is available for interviews on 0207 021 0584.

3. REC members can download JobsOutlook for free from the REC website: www.rec.uk.com/jobsoutlook. Non-members can subscribe to the monthly report for £99 per year.

4. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is the professional body for the recruitment industry. The REC represents 3,506 corporate members who have branches across all regions of the UK. In addition, the REC represents 4,744 individual members within the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP). All members must abide by a code of professional practice. Above all, the REC is committed to raising standards and highlighting excellence throughout the industry. Find out more on www.rec.uk.com.