Industry & Company News

Sarah Thewlis, Chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Managing Director of Thewlis Graham Associates, reflects on her own experience and considers the current position for women in the world of work ahead of International Women's Day (8 March 2022). Read the full article within. A fellow recruitment firm PRATAP Partnership have also added a feature on their website which can be viewed here https://www.pratappartnership.com/posts/international-womens-day.

As part of our Diversity and Inclusion awareness feature, check out the latest blog on the impact of the pandemic and older workers from Tim Whitaker, a consultant in strategic communications, policy and public affairs. Read the full article within.

UK recruitment consultancies registered a further marked increase in hiring activity during February, according to the latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs survey. That said, permanent staff appointments expanded at the softest rate for 11 months, while temp billings growth also slowed, as panel members stated that candidate shortages restricted their ability to fill roles. Notably, total candidate availability declined at a sharp and accelerated rate that was the quickest since last November. At the same time, vacancy growth picked up to a three-month high. A combination of robust demand for workers and low supply led to further upward pressure on rates of starting pay. Salaries for new permanent joiners rose at the second-fastest rate in over 24 years of data collection, while temp pay also increased sharply.

“Employer confidence levels rose slightly as 2022 began, but rising inflation looks to have put a dampener on that over the last couple of months, as firms see bills rise. This does not seem to have fed through to hiring yet – the majority of employers are still looking to bring in new permanent or temporary staff in the coming months. Temps are in particularly high demand at the moment, as this flexibility should help businesses and workers manage more difficult months ahead. We’re urging the Chancellor to take bold action in his spring Budget by postponing the rise in National Insurance and supporting companies to invest in skills. This will help both to ease the immediate crisis and to level up the economy in the longer term.” Neil Carberry. Read the full article within

As part of our Diversity and Inclusion awareness feature, in March we looked at women in the workplace. In April, we shift our focus to look at improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Read the full article within.

While progress has been made in recent years to improve diversity in the workplace, governments and businesses need to continue to work together to address any underlying gender inequalities, close existing gender pay gaps, support female progression and leadership in the workplace. Read the full article within.