Former apprentices are outpacing their peers when it comes to being fit for the workplace, according to new figures released today. The study by ICM Research reveals that employers in England rate qualified apprentices as 15 per cent more employable than those with other qualifications (1). Those who complete...

Last month the National Audit Office warned that a quarter of a million extra school places would be needed in England by autumn 2014. REC Education identified the need for more teachers in 2012 as the school system struggles to cope with present levels of demand and faces up...

46 million people around the world are placed as agency workers by staffing companies each year, a new report showed today by the international confederation of private employment services (Ciett). The number is estimated to be equivalent to 12.4 million full time jobs. “46 million people is only a...

The shortage of drivers has been a significant issue in the UK labour market for a number of years now, but with the implementation of Driver CPC looming, it looks set to come to a head over the course of 2013/14. Just how bad is this skills shortage though?...

The UK is set to avoid falling back into recession, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).   The BCC believes a strong performance by Britain’s service industries during the first three months of the year has kept the economy growing.   But a separate business survey suggests any recovery...

The rate of unemployment in the eurozone has hit a record high of 12{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}, official figures have shown.  The number of people unemployed in the 17 member states rose by 33,000 during February, to hit 19.07 million, the statistics agency Eurostat said.   The highest jobless rates were 26.4{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} in...

As the job market has improved UK workers’ confidence has returned, according to new research from Randstad. The survey of 7,000 UK adults reveals that competitive pay and benefits is back as the most important requirement of a new employer, while job security, the top factor for the past...

Two key hurdles to employment for young jobseekers are identifying appropriate skills and a lack of interview technique, according to research from Fish4jobs. Of those 16-24 years olds surveyed, two in every five (42{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) stated poor interview technique let them down. A quarter (23{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) said they struggled to identify...

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) JobsOutlook survey of 600 employers indicates that although businesses continue to face a challenging economic climate, the majority are still planning to increase or maintain their permanent staff over the next three months. REC director of policy Tom Hadley said: “Our latest data...

A resistance to change and a lack of social media savvy amongst senior leaders is holding organisations back from rebuilding trust and fostering cultures of openness, collaboration and innovation in their organisations. That’s according to new CIPD research on the current landscape of social media and employee voice, launched...

With the NHS Commissioning Board set to go live on 1 April 2013, innovative approaches to resourcing and management are set to be the order of the day.  However, in this period of transformation it is important that the people who make the NHS work – its staff –...

60{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} of job seekers are most annoyed and frustrated by the lack of, or more accurately, no communication, from recruiters when applying for a job, a recent poll by webrecruit has revealed. The poll, carried out on LinkedIn by online recruiter, webrecruit, further revealed 29{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} of respondents were most...

George Osborne opened his 2013 Budget speech with a focus on the outlook for the UK labour market, and rightly so as the facts make for good reading: 600,000 more jobs expected this year than last, six jobs being created in the private sector for every one lost in...

Commenting on the announcements on growth and jobs by the Chancellor in today’s Budget the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) director of policy Tom Hadley says: “The Chancellor had to deliver on jobs and growth and with measures that cut the cost of hiring, reward workers with more take-home...

Last year the Government proposed amendments to the Finance Bill, including extending the IR35 tax rules to ‘office holders’, a move which could have a major impact within the recruitment industry. As the legal partner to the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), Lawspeed researched the basis for this proposed...