Temporary work bucking national employment trends.

The use of temporary agency labour has increased again in most sectors, in antithesis to the latest government figures regarding temporary employment.

The manufacturing sector has seen it’s second increase in the use of temps this year, suggesting the industry could be returning to growth in the first quarter of 2012. Date from de Poel shows that the number of hours worked by temporary staff has increased year-on-year by 35% in January and 48% in February as the manufacturing sector has increased its labour needs to support improved levels of output. Reports out by the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed levels of activity in manufacturing were at its highest for eight months in January 2012 thanks to a rise in new orders and an increase in production.

The data also showed usage of temporary labour rose by 79% within the Business Services sector, 30% within Care and 4% in Construction. Facilities Management and Logistics sectors reduced their use of temporary labour during February 2012 by 33% and 27% respectively.

In complete contrast the Office of National Statistics figures release today (14/03) show unemployment at a near 17-year high, with 2.67 million people now out of work.  Despite the increase, many commentators have suggested the figures aren’t too bad:

In an interview with the Financial Times,Howard Archer, an economist at HIS Global Insight, said the data were “mixed overall but the rise in unemployment does appear to have moderated recently which supports hopes that the economy is returning to modest growth”.

For a complete overview of the latest employment statistics for both the permanent and temporary arenas take a look at our Employment Snapshot.

Good news all round for employment figures

The usage of temporary agency labour in the UK is rising, supporting the news that overall employment is on the up.

de Poel’s data for June shows a year on year increase of 18%, with some sectors already doubling the amount of temporary agency labour hours this year.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics today reveal that the total number of people out of work fell by 26,000, although conversely there has been a huge increase in the amount of people claiming employment benefits.

Click on the graph above to view the figures in detail…

UK claimant count fell in December

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell last month, as the total out of work inched back below the 2.5 million mark. The claimant count dropped by 4,100 people in December to 1.46 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported. The ONS also revised November’s claimant count figure to show a 3,200 decline.

City economists had expected the claimant count to be broadly flat in December, as hiring by private companies was countered by the government’s cuts to public spending. However, the number of people who have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for up to six months increased by 7,200 to reach 960,300.

Ross Walker of RBS warned that employment showed little signs of recovery, a year after Britain officially emerged from recession.

And Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight cautioned that unemployment is still likely to rise this year, due to lacklustre economic growth and increasing job losses in the public sector.

With a continuing fragile economy a flexible temporary agency workforce will play a vital role in adapting to the changing market.  However organisations must get to grips with compliance to the Agency Workers Regulations, which come into force October 2011.

New NMW could hit temporary agency workers

The changes to the National Minimum Wage (NNW) could severely affect temporary agency workers earning up to £9 an hour, according a major accountancy firm.

Brian White, a tax partner at Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte, has said that low-paid workers could be left up to £30 a week worse off with job losses in some cases.

White added that because the changes would increase the cost of employing these workers, and estimated that the number staff cuts could range from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand.

Perm staff still on pre-recession pay cuts

As over three quarters of permanent staff continue to feel the pay crunch, temporary agency workers’ flexibility and ability to plug interim gaps has seen them escape the worst of the salary cuts, meaning a continued growth  in popularity.

A recent report by recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark Some 77 per cent of staff who accepted a pay reduction in order to avoid redundancy have not seen their pay return to pre-recession levels.

Employment Snapshot June 2010

For the latest Temporary Agency Labour Trends click on the employment snapshot:

Confidence appears to be returning to the jobs markets, with increasing numbers of employers saying they will be looking to grow or maintain both their temporary and permanent workforces over the next year….

http://www.depoel.co.uk/bulletins/employment-snapshot-june-2010