Latest News From Policy & Research - The REC

Recruiters will be a crucial lifeline for jobseekers in the months ahead. Though the summer and autumn months have seen some signs of recovery in the labour market, the road ahead is still uncertain.

We’ve written to the government with a six-step plan outlining what needs to happen next to lay the foundations for recovery - incentivising job creation and retention. We have called on government to review the tax system including IR35, reduce employers National Insurance Contributions, and make recruitment experts central to all job finding support services. Get the full plan here. We will be following the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review closely next week to see if any of these areas are addressed. 

Take a look at our 2021 campaign priorities here. 

REC appointed as a Kickstart gateway organisation

New job placements for 16 to 24-year-olds will be created in the recruitment industry following a successful bid by the REC to the government’s Kickstart Scheme. It’s not too late to support youth employment by creating a placement in your business as part of the scheme. More information can be found at the RECs Guide to Kickstart.

Ban on agency staff in care homes

The government has launched a one-week consultation on banning temporary staff from moving between care homes. The REC believes this proposal would be catastrophic and could result in more hospital admissions. In addition to our response we are urgently calling on all recruiters who supply staff to the care sector to submit a response so the industry’s voice and first-hand knowledge of staffing the sector can be acted on.

Brexit and immigration

We are less than 30 working days from the end of the transition period, and we urge members to check out our Brexit Hub for information on preparations and the new immigration system.

BEIS continues to offer a series of sector-specific webinars with relevant resources to help businesses prepare for the end of the transition period. The latest ones are on the recognition of professional qualifications and the use of personal data. The full list can be accessed here, please make the most of this valuable information.

On immigration, we are active members of the Home Office Employers Advisory Group - ensuring your voices are heard on issues such as right to work. Further information on sponsorship and right to work will soon be published and we will update all members. We will also feed into the Director of Labour Market Enforcement workshop on immigration and enforcement this week – our key concern is with our so called 'low skilled route’ - we could see the emergence of an illegal workforce as has been the case in other countries.

Supporting the NHS during Covid-19

Campaigning for recruiters is at the heart of what we do. Over the last year our healthcare team - along with our members - have been supporting the health and care system over a very challenging period. Read more about how we have been standing up for our industry at the World Employment Confederation innovations page.

Research corner

Our latest Jobs Recovery Tracker found that in the first week of November there were 1.36 million active job adverts in the UK. This is the first time that figure has been reached since early March. But the recovery has not been evenly distributed across the different regions and sectors of the labour market. In October,

• Six of the twelve nations and major regions of the UK had recorded higher numbers of active job adverts than in March.
• Growth was led by north-west England (+36.8%), Wales (+33.4%) and Northern Ireland (+22.1%).
• Roles in construction, logistics and food and drink have recovered strongly, while hospitality and leisure remain at significantly lower levels than in March.

Our Research bitesize page has the most up-to-date information REC members need to understand the jobs market and plan ahead. It brings together all the latest REC research and labour market developments.

News from Europe

Although we prepare to leave Europe, our European contacts are more important than ever. This week we met with European Confederation of Search and Selection Association (ECSSA) to explore the impact of Covid-19, and tomorrow with WEC Public Affairs. Key takeaways from ECSSA were that although business confidence is down, with clients hesitant to take on new senior appointments, countries are hopeful that appointments would increase once lockdown measures across Europe are lifted.

The future of jobs

Why not round off the year by joining our free Future of Jobs event on 2 December. We will be joined by some of the UK's experts on the future of work as we look at the regional jobs market post-Covid, and building the bridge between education and work.

DWP survey

DWP have recently concluded the CAEHRS (Tier 1 & 2) competition, which is a framework-style agreement for Employment and Health Related Services. This is intended as the primary commercial vehicle for DWP Employment Provision over the next 5 years.  They are now conducting early market engagement activity for Tier 3 and FSF DPS 2, to seek feedback and ideas on the development of these projects.

Neal Suchak, Policy Advisor for the REC