Members of trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) met in London last night to plan the campaign for the Agency Workers Directive consultation.  

The audience thought the current interpretation of the legislation would reduce the number of temporary workers they can place, with 26% expecting a very significant and 37% a significant reduction in headcount.

However, Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, told the conference the change in rhetoric from the government was promising in the consultation was promising and showed they were moving in the right direction.

“It wasn’t too long ago that it would have been unheard of for a Labour minister to talk about the importance of temporary workers,” he said.

John Cridland, deputy director general of the Confederation of British Industry, who admitted to being in the room representing the CBI when the lengthy negotiations took place, also spoke about the positive, “business friendly”, consultation document.

For further analysis see the next edition of Recruitermagazine, 10 June.