Insights

The latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs survey indicated a further drop in hiring activity during June as clients continued to freeze or cut back on their recruitment plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, both permanent placements and temp billings fell at notably softer rates than in April and May. Demand for staff also fell at a weaker, albeit still marked, rate. However, redundancies and furloughed workers led to the steepest increase in labour supply since January 2009, with temp candidate numbers rising at a record pace. This, combined with subdued demand for staff, added further downward pressure on pay. The report is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.

Thewlis Graham Associates are delighted to have worked with RCVS on the appointment of 2 new lay members for the veterinary nurse council. We wish Sarah Fox and Stephanie Richardson all the best on these appointments.

Cycling 200 Miles (321 Kms) in a day for good causes. Why? Well, I am enormously proud to be an Ambassador for two remarkable charities, both of whom are facing distinctly bleak futures due to the dramatic effect of Covid-19. Peter Gibbons takes us on a 200 mile adventure on his bike to raise money for charity. Peter Gibbons is the Managing Director of Sprague Gibbons, a Bristol based Marketing agency who we work closely with.

During the COVID-19 crisis, we have been publishing special editions of JobsOutlook alongside the full reports. These special editions include survey data from only 200 employers, but give a more up-to-date picture of employers' confidence levels and hiring intentions. In the first half of July, employers' confidence in making hiring and investment decisions rose to net: +4, up from net: -9 in early June. This is the first time since February that levels of hiring confidence have been in positive territory, indicating that more employers now feel that their ability to make hiring and investment decisions is improving, rather than deteriorating. Business confidence in the UK economy remained low overall but also improved between June and July, rising from net: -46 to net: -40.

Lockdown hit a week before I was made redundant, the final and long-expected stage of a merger process that had absorbed the previous 18 months. I had planned to make the most of the forthcoming free time: visiting friends and family, watching sport, a break somewhere where the sun was warmer and the beer colder. That was all shelved with the stay at home order. I’d expected to spend more time at home, but perhaps not this much. Richard “Blues Boy” Lambert is an experienced chief executive of membership organisations, whose mojo is definitely working.

Total job postings in the UK rise to 990,000 in last week of June Bar staff, waiters and waitresses in demand as pubs and restaurants set to re-open in England Growth in job adverts for glaziers, bricklayers, rooofers, school support staff, barbers and hairdressers Local hiring hotspots include Mid Lancashire, Luton and Dumfries & Galloway The number of job adverts in the UK continued to rise during June, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s latest Jobs Recovery Tracker. In the week of 22-28 June, there were 990,000 unique active job postings in the UK, up from 963,000 in the first week of June.

We all coped with lockdown differently, some people took up new hobbies, some people learnt a new skill, some people were working just the same but with additional challenges, some people became teachers, full time carers, some people read. What did you do? This is the story of two people and their way of dealing with this surreal situation and their delightful project. Let us know what you did? Carol Smith is a Retired administrator with two adult children. Active W.I member and U3A member. New found love and obsession with playing Mahjong. Very active member of W.I Bredhurst Mahjong group. Aptly named Jam, Jerusalem and Mahjong!

Yesterday’s announcement re: job losses was hard to hear. It’s easy to be defined in terms of what job you do and when that’s taken away, not only do lose the financial support but you can lose a sense of purpose and being, even if you did not like the job that much. Read further for five things that may help through this time plus some useful resources.