UK firms plan to hire more temps in next quarter
UK firms are becoming increasingly reliant on temporary workers, according to the latest data from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).
Research from the REC’s latest JobsOutlook survey, published today, shows 89% of UK employers plan to increase or maintain temporary headcount in the next quarter, up from 80% in March’s survey.
The survey also shows a third of respondents report having no spare workforce capacity within their organisation, while nearly half (46%) anticipate a shortage of candidates to fill permanent roles in the next year, with construction, engineering & technical, and health & social care cited as particular areas of concern.
Of those that use temporary workers, 65% do so to manage peaks in demand, 57% to respond to growth, and 48% to gain access to key strategic skills.
This increased use of temporary workers may have a financial burden for some businesses, however, with one in five (19%) claiming that agency workers earn more than permanent staff in equivalent roles.
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