- Nick Elvin
Sixteen per cent of UK employers plan to expand their operations into Europe in the next two years, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
Taking into account these employers, in addition to those already active overseas and those with expansion plans beyond the European Union (EU), it means almost a third (31 per cent) of UK-based organisations could be working internationally by this time in 2016, REC says.
This month’s JobsOutlook survey of employers also found that that 87% of employers plan to create more permanent jobs in the next three months, while 74% intend to hire more permanent staff in the medium-term.
In addition, 46% plan to hire more agency staff in the next three months, and 39% say they will increase their use of temporary agency staff over the medium term.
Meanwhile, the top reason employers give for using agency workers (68% of respondents) is to gain short-term access to key strategic skills.
The survey also reveals that 25% of organisations have already increased their headcount in the past year but despite this, 37% are already reporting they have no capacity to take on more work without increasing staff numbers.
There is a concern among employers, however, about the ongoing drivers shortage for both permanent and temporary jobs.
Nearly one in five hirers (18%) predict shortages of drivers for permanent roles and 12% are concerned about a shortage of candidates for short-term contracts in the run up to Christmas.