Contractors, consultation and careers advice by tweet

Jo Faragher

One of the key employment stories this week was the latest round of figures from the Office for National Statistics, showing that UK unemployment fell by 57,000 to 2.51 million in the three months to May. 

Employment Minister Mark Hoban described the figures as ‘encouraging’, adding that “we cannot be complacent, there are still some big challenges”. Analysts pointed out that, compared with this time last year, 300,000 more people are in work – showing that jobs are being created despite slow economic growth.

But one of the most interesting aspects of the latest batch of ONS figures is an increase in the number of self-employed or contract workers – there are now 4.2m freelance workers in the UK, up by 374,000 since the start of the financial crisis. 

For agencies that supply contract workers, this is positive news. As Phil McDonald, managing director of umbrella company Paraplus, points out, this ensures employers have “access to a ready supply of diverse skills and experience”. With many organisations cautious about issuing permanent contracts, offering flexible temporary or interim options can really add value.

Earlier than expected, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has now issued its response to the consultation into reforming the regulation that govern recruitment agencies. On the whole, the response to this has been positive, with industry bodies and recruitment companies feeling they have been listened to during the process.

The potential scrapping of the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate, for example, will not happen, although the service will be slimmed down. Likewise, recruiters welcomed an opt-out for limited company contractors. The devil will be in the detail, however, as certain areas remain vague. 

BIS has not, for instance, made it clear what ‘unreasonable’ means in the section of the response that talks about preventing agencies from ‘enforcing unreasonable terms on a hirer in a temporary to permanent situation. The response also does little to reflect the role that umbrella companies and other intermediaries play in contemporary recruitment.

Elsewhere, innovation in recruitment was celebrated at the CIPD’s annual Recruitment Marketing Awards, where the top prize went to a campaign that created the world’s first tweet-activated vending machine for students. The machine dispensed career advice, pointing users to Mars’ graduate recruitment scheme.

This is proof that hirers are embracing new ways to use social media, aside from simply publishing jobs via a 140-character tweet or corporate Facebook page. Recruiters can do more with social media too, and our feature explores a few avenues you might not have considered before.

Let us know what you think at editorial@recruitmentagencynow.com