As imminent changes to employment rules continue to make headlines, recruitment leaders from across the UK gathered in London to underline the crucial importance of temporary work in the country’s employment infrastructure.
The Government’s Employment Rights Bill is set to bring about some of the most wide-ranging employment changes in modern history, which many business leaders fear will lead to shrinking workforce numbers. The Bill introduces a large number of reforms, from creating a right to guaranteed hours for zero-hours workers to statutory sick pay from first day of sickness absence.
Pete Taylor, Managing Director at Gi Group visited the House of Commons alongside other leaders in the jobs sector to attend the REC’s Parliamentary Reception, where the volume was turned up to maximum on one simple message: employees and employers alike rely on temporary work more than ever before, and anything which impacts the availability and volume of temporary roles must be balanced out with other incentives to grow temporary vacancies.
Commenting after the meeting, Pete said the REC’s statistics speak for themselves. “Temporary work is a vital cog in the smooth running of our country, from logistics to leisure and everything in between. Every day in the UK more than one million temporary workers support our economy and temporary contracts are proven to driven economic growth and help get people in to work. They are the backbone of our economy in so many ways,” said Pete.
“Many of the changes outlined in the new Employment Rights Bill, coupled with the tax changes coming in to force on April 1st, are coalescing to create a most inhospitable climate for businesses to grow and support workers,” Taylor added. “Leaders from across our industry have long banged the drum for the importance of temporary work because we see firsthand how crucial this type of work is to our clients and our candidates. The time is now to speak up and out about how important this type of work is.”
Recently the REC surveyed more than 500 workers, over half of which were temp agency workers who believed that this is the right kind of work for their current stage in life. 79% of workers said their work provides an important need for flexibility while 68% said their work provides a greater life balance. 28 % said that their roles work better for their family lives, and 81% said that their temporary work offers much needed income.
“We strongly believe that jeopardising the temporary work ecosystem in the UK will lead to a shrinking economy and much a more difficult path to entering the workforce for millions of people,” said Taylor. “We hope that our combined voice, spoken in unison in London recently, will have a positive impact on how the new Bill is delivered in real time.”
At the reception, Pete met with the Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chairman of the Business and Trade Select Committee and Justin Madders MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) who both acknowledged the importance of the temporary recruitment sector in supporting job seekers with employment opportunities, and for the significant impact they have on the economy.
