Contractor agency billings continue growth trend on lead to Brexit vote
Contractor agency billings continued to rise during May at the same time as month-on-month increases in contractor demand. The findings from the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Report on Jobs suggest that the Brexit vote hasn’t quelled clients’ appetites for hiring despite a warning from REC chief executive Kevin Green that a Brexit could destabilise the economy: “UK businesses are now facing candidate shortages in nearly every sector of the economy. We need more people with the right skills for the jobs that are available.” More...
Contractors continue to dominate wider European market
Contractors are driving an employment revolution across Europe as the number of contingent staff across the European Union (EU) continues its marked period of growth. The latest study from the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) shows that contractor numbers in the EU rose by 24% from 7.7m to 9.6m between 2008 and 2015. Meanwhile, during the same period the UK alone has enjoyed 49% growth. “Right across the EU, huge numbers of people are seeing the benefits of being their own boss and they’re finding the confidence to launch new business,” comments IPSE CEO Chris Bryce. More...
Contractors told to continue innovating at National Freelancers Day 2016
ContractorCalculator was there when contractors and freelancers gathered to celebrate National Freelancers Day on 9 June 2016. #BeFreeToCreate was the theme for the event, hosted by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE), where contractors were urged to continue driving innovation. The IT and engineering sectors were both represented amongst the evening’s award nominees. Freelance illustrator Emmeline Pidgen claimed the Inspire Award for established contractors and freelancers whilst Lauren Razavi took home the Aspire Award for those aged 23 and under for her work as a journalist and freelance strategist. More...
IT contractors urged to seek out NHS opportunities
IT contractors in search of large numbers of secure contracts and opportunities for career development should look for roles within the NHS. This is according to Mark Cherry, operations manager at GoToJobBoard, who claims demand for contingent IT staff from the public sector organisation is rising as it seeks to modernise its operations UK-wide. “The NHS is increasingly seeking individuals with private sector experience in order to take lessons from them and help it to improve its own systems,” he explains. “So contractors are viewed more favourably than they would have been a few years ago.” More...
Finance contractor demand declines as sector challenges continue
Finance contractor demand in London’s financial sector declined during May 2016 as the Brexit vote continues to influence client hiring intentions. Morgan McKinley’s latest London Employment Monitor notes that a vote to remain in the EU would result in a short-term vacancy upturn. Vacancies for finance professionals fell by 5% month-on-month and 8% year-on-year. However, as Morgan McKinley operations director Hakan Enver notes, it’s not all doom and gloom: “We saw plenty of negativity in the air in May, but this could turn very quickly, if the market perceives the referendum result as a positive one for the UK.” More...
IT contractors unlikely to be tempted by move to working for HMRC
IT contractors are unlikely to be persuaded to work for HMRC due to the Treasury policy of limiting all annual public sector pay rises to 1% until at least 2020, Public Technology reports. This is according to the Public and Commercial Services Union, after Revenue and Customs Digital Technology Service (RCDTS) – HMRC’s new Government-owned company – set about plans to directly employ contractors who had been working for Capgemini, its former IT supplier. “It is unlikely that RCDTS will be able to satisfy technical staff’s long-term salary ambitions, as IT salaries in the private sector are beginning to grow,” the union highlights. More...
Oil and gas contractors on hand to plug skills gaps following headcount cuts
Contractors in the oil and gas sector are ready to reduce the talent shortfall after recent figures revealed the impact of the oil price downturn on permanent jobs. Research from Oil & Gas UK estimates that headcounts in the UK’s offshore industry will have fallen by an estimated 120,000 by the end of 2016, compared with their peak in 2014. This means just over 330,000 UK jobs will be delivered or supported by oil and gas production. With more emphasis being placed on increasing efficiency in the North Sea, combined with the increasing talent shortfall, firms may start looking to contractors to provide skills on a contingent basis. More...
Contractors favoured as Brexit vote impacts on hiring decisions, says recruiter
Contractors are finding themselves increasingly targeted by hirers as uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote impacts hiring decisions. This is according to a study by recruiter Randstad UK that found one in four businesses are filling more vacancies with short-term contract solutions as a result of Brexit concerns. 58% claimed their businesses were wholly unaffected by the referendum, whilst 17% have frozen hiring completely. “We see this kind of tentativeness around hiring decisions at regular intervals in the political and seasonal calendar,” notes Randstad Client Solutions managing director Alison Starmer. More...
Self-employed contractor numbers continue long-term growth trend
Contractors continue to help drive growth in the UK workforce as the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal the number of self-employed workers in the UK rose by 209,000 in the three months to April 2016, year-on-year. “The number of full-time self-employed has grown five times as quickly as the number of full-time employed, showing that people are having success finding work independently,” comments Laurence Nye, economist at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE). More...
HMRC sends ‘thank you’ letters to contractors
Contractors have begun to receive ‘thank you’ letters from HMRC for paying their taxes on time in an effort to improve its public perception, the Telegraph reports. This news comes shortly after a National Audit Office (NAO) report revealed that 4.2m taxpayers hung up the phone after waiting to speak to HMRC’s customer services last year. Commenting on the initiative, former Labour Cabinet minister Caroline Flint said: “I’m not saying it is going overwhelmingly to make everyone think you [HMRC] are wonderful, but might it not be something acknowledging to the taxpayer how much they contribute, not just where the money goes?” More...