Online demand for IT and engineering contractors bucks trend
Online demand for IT, engineering and construction, and extraction sector contractors has bucked the trend of the overall jobs market in the UK. The July Monster employment index fell slightly, by a single point (from 141 to 140), but year on year growth was up, 9% greater than July 2010. Marketing, PR and media contractors also saw a 31% increase in year on year online demand for their services compared to July 2010. More…
IT contractors to benefit from financial sector investment in compliance
IT contractors will be able to look to the financial sector for new contracts in the next 12 months, according to research by Giant Group PLC. When asked, 32.6% of IT contractors predicted that banks and insurers will create the most contracts in the next 12 months. In contrast, only 8.9% of contractors forecasted that the public sector would create the most IT contracts. “Banks are…under intense regulatory pressure to improve their risk monitoring processes and ensure that their transactions are more transparent, which is spurring a huge investment in IT,” says Giant managing director Matthew Brown. More…
Contractors should keep their social media profiles up-to-date for potential recruiters
Contractors should ensure their social media profiles are current, as according to the Wall Street Journal, an increasing number of recruiters are scanning the social networks in preference to LinkedIn or traditional job boards. Will Staney, talent acquisition web strategy manager for IT services firm VMware, told the Wall Street Journal that VMware plans to pilot a new Facebook application to search for new talent: “Candidates have been 50% more likely to apply to positions they found through Facebook than through other means,” he says. More…
Contractors, “the single greatest source of job creation today”, are forecast to account for 40% of all US workers by 2019
US contractors are forecast to account for 40% of the USA’s workforce by 2019, writes Professor Richard Greenwald for Bloomberg’s Business Week. He notes that tax and labour laws, as well as healthcare insurance policies, are not keeping pace with the changing US workforce, meaning contractors are paying more than large corporations for their medical cover. Greenwald calls contractors “the single greatest source of job creation today”. More…
Change to the Agency Workers Regulations could reduce the scope for employment tribunals
The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) have been amended to correct a drafting error. According to the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), the correction of regulations 3, 10 and 14 of the legislation may reduce the chances of workers filing claims. The amendment “should significantly reduce the prospect of claims being made on technical grounds,” says ARC chairman Adrian Marlowe. More…
Senior engineering contractors in desperately short supply
Senior engineering contractors are in desperately short supply, according to the latest skills survey by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). The IET has reported to The Engineer that almost half of UK engineering companies are struggling to recruit senior-level engineers. IET’s head of policy Paul Davies told The Engineer: “The reason why organisations are finding it difficult to recruit at a senior level is due to high levels of competition to hire experienced staff.” More…