Employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency workers jumped in the three months to March as lockdown measures started to lift, according to new data.
The REC’s latest JobsOutlook survey indicates that hiring intentions for temporary agency workers in both the short (net: +19) and medium (net: +23) term rose to the highest since mid-2018. This shows how key agency work is to helping businesses as they start to re-open and scale up in less certain times.
Employers’ intentions to hire permanent staff in the short term (in the next three months) remained stable at net: +20.
Other key insights from the latest analysis include:
- Businesses’ confidence in their ability to hire new staff remained stable and in positive territory at net: +14.
- Employer’s intentions to hire permanent staff in the short term were highest in London (net: +30) and lowest in the devolved nations (net: +12).
- Almost half of businesses believe a significant reform of employer’s National Insurance (46%) and business rates (44%) would have significant benefit to their operations.
