Temporary Recruitment on the rise?…

With the economy as it has been, employers’ confidence in making investment and hiring decisions has been affected. In view of these economic conditions, many organisations expected confidence in hiring and investment decisions to get worse. However, reports from The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) on the short (3 months) and medium (four to twelve months) term outlook for organisations utilising temporary agency staff is looking promising and there seems to be an upward trajectory. Forecast demand for agency worker hiring rebounded the last quarter, driven by a notable uptick in February, with sentiment in most regions remaining positive, particularly in London.

In January 2024, the REC asked:

How, if at all, has your attitude towards temporary agency workers, freelancers and contractors changed because of ongoing candidate shortages?

Data after removing those who do not hire temp workers showed:

• It has made us less likely to hire temporary workers, freelancers, or contractors (11.5%)
• It has had no impact on our likelihood of hiring temporary workers, freelancers, or contractors (54%)
• It has made us more likely to hire temporary workers, freelancers, or contractors (6.9%)
• We are not experiencing a shortage of candidates (20.7%)
• Don’t know (5.7%)

From a contingent workforce perspective, while the temporarily employed pool (4.4% of the total workforce) was 14.7% (249,000) smaller than a year earlier, the number in self-employment (13.0% of the workforce) increased by 0.5% (22,000).

Personnel Today have recently reported that here has been a steep increase in businesses hiring temporary staff, freelancers and contractors in the past quarter.

TotalJobs’ Hiring Trends Index stated that businesses hired more temporary staff, freelancers, or contractors (27%) in the past three months than in Q4 (16%) as they evaluated the economic landscape. Businesses have seen increased competition to fill skills gap, with 3 in 5 (59%) experiencing an upshoot in competition to find the talent with the right skills. This skills shortage has changed candidate expectations over time, with candidates’ salary and benefits expectations increasing, as well as requests for flexible/remote working, and difficulty ensuring diversity of candidates.

This increased competition for talent with specialist skills especially is why it is necessary to benchmark salaries for businesses to stay competitive in their market to attract new talent and retain existing employees.

Looking ahead, 74% of employers are confident they will find and employ the people they need in Q2 of 2024, as hiring confidence rises. It’s also reported that 17% of businesses plan to increase recruitment for temporary staff or freelancers.

There are over 1.4m people seeking contract or temporary work on LinkedIn in the UK, and over 90% of these are open to opportunities. Contractors on the platform have grown by over 119% in the last 5 years, so this continues to increase. LinkedIn have also reported a significant growth of the engagement of these members on the platform, growing by 103% last year. This means that this talent is actively logging in and ready to be contacted on the platform. We seek out and speak to these contract and temporary workers to find out what exactly it is they are looking for.

In addition to our permanent recruitment solutions, did you know that Cantello Tayler Recruitment has an exclusive talent pool of high-calibre, screened and qualified temporary workers available immediately? Employing temporary staff provides a flexible workforce to achieve growth within your organisation, and we have seen a growing demand for this over the past year. If there is a reason you need extra support with your workload for a period of time – from a significant project that needs more ‘hands on deck’, to team absence requiring cover – then temporary staff may well be the answer. Please do get in touch using our contact page.

If you are looking for a temporary or permanent job, contact our team to learn more about how we can help you achieve your career goals: Contact us.

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