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November - another record month for ARV Solutions
Reflecting the broad consultancy approach of ARV Solutions the record revenues in November have been from wide ranging sources. We are delighted with this - reinforcing our commitment to a genuine consultancy approach and to added real value in our services.

Employers in the UK are expressing their strongest New Year hiring intentions
14/12/2004 09:49:00

Most optimistic New Year jobs Outlook on record
- Q1 jobs confidence equals Q1 2003 high
- Record Finance and Business Services jobs confidence

Employers in the UK are expressing their strongest New Year hiring intentions since records began, with a Net Employment Outlook¹ of +14%, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the outlook improves to +18%². For the second consecutive quarter, the Finance and Business Services sector continues to drive optimism across the UK, with employers reporting a Net Employment Outlook of +24% - the most optimistic outlook for this sector since 1998.

Mark Cahill, managing director at Manpower, says: "The fact that UK employers are reporting their highest New Year levels of confidence since 1998 is great news. These figures are extremely positive, particularly as the first three months of the year are traditionally a quieter time for recruitment, as companies scale back after Christmas. With low levels of unemployment, it is very much a jobseekers’ market and the opportunity is there for candidates to develop their experience and skills. 

In this climate, employers need to continue to review recruitment procedures and benefits packages in order to attract the best candidates."

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey measures employer hiring intentions for the quarter ahead: January to March 2005. 2,100 UK employers were surveyed in the UK and over 35,000 employers in 19 countries and territories globally. The Net Employment Outlook for the UK in Q1 is +14%. When seasonal variations are taken into account, the outlook improves to +18%.

Continues Cahill: "The Finance and Business Services sector continues to perform well. Some jobs in this sector are moving out of the capital to the regions and the data reflects this. Results for London are reserved yet still positive - with a balance of +5% of employers looking to take on staff in Q1. Employers in the Transport and Communications sector are also optimistic. The increased interest in 3G services could account for the Outlook of +22% - well above the national average."

Across the UK, eight of the nine industry sectors surveyed by Manpower are planning to take on staff next quarter. Employers in Finance and Business Services (up 13 percentage points year on year); Transport and Communications (up nine percentage points year on year); Community and Social (up four percentage points year on year), all reported figures above the national average. The Agriculture sector is the only sector to expect cutbacks with a Net Employment Outlook of -12% - a decline of four percentage points over the last quarter and a year-on-year decrease of nine percentage points.

Employers in eleven of the twelve regions surveyed intend to take on more staff in the quarter ahead. Employers in the North East are the most optimistic with +28% of employers looking to expand their workforce - an increase of 11 percentage points over the year. Conversely, employers in London, the North West, West Midlands and the Eastern regions are the least optimistic: all four regions are reporting Net Employment Outlooks below the national average.

Of the 11 European countries surveyed, employers in all but Germany (-6%) and Italy (-1%) recorded positive hiring intentions. The strongest hiring intentions in Europe are reported in Ireland (+15%) UK and Norway (+12%), while hiring is expected to be less robust inSweden (+5%), and Belgium (+5%).

Looking at the results from a global level, 17 of the 19 countries and territories surveyed by Manpower anticipate positive Net Employment Outlooks for the three months ahead. Employers in New Zealand (+30%) and Hong Kong
(+26%) report the most buoyant forecasts. Employers in 12 of the 19 countries expect more hiring compared to this time last year.

www.manpower.com

Record month for ARV Solutions
October has been the most successful month to date for ARV Solutions. 

We have had more job offers, and starters than any month previously - both in the UK and internationally. However, we expect this record to soon be beaten with a strong pipeline of expected job offers for November / December. 

We are seeing significant increases in candidate flow - of high quality - through the website - thanks to excellent positioning within the major search engines for many relevant keyword phrases.
The new CV service is rapidly proving to be much needed and is being well received - thank you to all who completed our online survey. 

We are also pushing ahead with added value services to clients including consultancy on internet advertising and recruitment & HR systems - two areas of particular expertise within ARV Solutions.

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97% of contractors have opted-out of Agency Regulations
24/8/2004

Some insurers refusing IR35 cover for contractors that do not opt-out 

According to a survey of more than 3,500 of its contractors by giant group plc, the contractor specialist, 97% have opted-out of the Employment Agency Regulations.

The Employment Agencies Act sets out agencies’ responsibilities and obligations to contractors. These include providing details of the work contractors are required to do prior to engagement and ensuring suitable accommodation is available when contractors are required to work away from home.

Matthew Brown, Managing Director, of giant group comments: "Most of giant’s contractors seem to think that these regulations are entirely inappropriate to their situation."

"They believe that remaining inside the regulations provides contractors with no real benefits, and that not-opting out may actually put them at a competitive disadvantage." 

"The vast majority of our contractors have made the choice for themselves in the interests of their business."

Some insurers refusing IR35 cover for contractors that do not opt-out 

Some insurers are refusing to provide IR35 cover to contractors that do not opt-out of the new Agency Regulations warns giant.

According to giant, some insurers believe that the Inland Revenue could take the view that the regulations impose a degree of control over contractors that suggest an employer-employee relationship.

Mathew Brown comments : "The regulations treat contractors more like temps than independent businesses. Insurers’ concern is that if contractors chose not to opt-out their status of being in business on their account may be open to attack by the Revenue." 

"Some insurers are saying they don’t want to provide IR35 cover if the risk of the Revenue successfully challenging contractors’ employment status is that much greater." 

Matthew Brown adds; "Whether these regulations will prove a factor in future IR35 cases remains to be seen."

Contractors should be extremely wary of working without IR35 insurance cover says giant. 

Matthew Brown says; "Contractors will be taking a risk if they decide to forego their IR35 cover by not opting-out of the regulations." 

"Trying to decide for yourself whether a contract will pass or fail IR35 simply by the way it is worded is very difficult. The drafting of a contract has to be balanced against the day-to-day reality of the project."

According to giant, if the Inland Revenue establishes that a contractor has failed IR35 the contractor could be liable for PAYE tax and employers’ and employees’ National Insurance dating back to the start of the contract. In addition, the contractor could face thousands of pounds worth of fees for professional advice to help fight their case – as well as penalties and interest payments.

News source www.onrec.com

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Pay awards back to 3%
24/08/2004

UK pay deals are back at 3%, according to the latest figures from pay analysts IRS (Industrial Relations Services), part of LexisNexis.

As the UK enters the quieter period of pay bargaining over the summer months, the IRS pay databank measure of pay awards across the whole economy - the mid-point in the range of recorded deals - has risen to 3% for the three months ending July 2004.
The headline figures for the previous three rolling quarters - April, May and June this year - have also been revised upwards from 2.9% to 3%, as more settlements have been added to the IRS pay databank. This means that the IRS measure of pay settlements has remained at 3% for every rolling quarter since March 2003.

Other key findings include:

- Inflation matching pay awards. Now that pay awards have returned to 3%, they are matching the level of headline inflation, which means that employees are receiving a cost of living increase.

- Pay awards more widely spread. Half of all pay awards now fall within the range 2.5% to 3.5%. The upper quartile - above which the top 25% of awards lie - jumped by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5%. Meanwhile the lower quartile - below which 25% of settlements fall - remains steady, at 2.5%.

- Public and private sector pay growth even. The median pay award in both the public and private sectors is 3% in the 12 months to July 2004.

- Weighted median rises. The weighted median, which takes into account the number of people covered by each pay deal, has risen by 0.2 percentage points (on the revised June figure) to 3% in the three months to July 2004.

- Gap between manufacturing and services sectors reverses. In the quarter to July 2004, the IRS pay databank figures show a turn-around in the pattern between basic pay settlements in the manufacturing and services sectors. In the services sector, pay awards rose by a median 3%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the (revised) June figure of 2.9%. Manufacturing pay deals fell to 2.5%.

- Pay deals lower than a year ago. Analysis of a matched sample of pay deals, for which IRS has collected information on the latest and previous pay awards, reveals that exactly half are worth less this time round. Around one-third (32%) paid a higher settlement, which the remaining fifth (18%) received the same increase.

- Merit budgets match basic awards. A separate analysis of the 20 pay deals based on individual performance reveals that the median merit budget in the quarter to July 2004 was 3% on the paybill, the same as the median basic pay increase.

- Public sector pay: following the more subdued pay settlements awarded to the large public sector groups covered by the pay review bodies, IRS expects similar restraint in other key areas of the civil service as their pay bargaining gets under way.

- National Minimum Wage: several employers contacted by IRS are undertaking additional pay reviews this autumn to accommodate the rise in the national minimum wage (NMW). The NMW will increase by 7.8%, from £4.50 to £4.85 an hour on the adult rate, from 1 October 2004. 

IRS Pay and Benefits editor, Sheila Attwood said: 
“As pay awards for the three months to the end of July have nudged back up to 3%, from 2.9% in June, it will be interesting to see how private sector pay responds to the increase in headline inflation expected in the second half of the year.

“Meanwhile, for public sector pay the picture is quite different. The single largest pay deal in the economy -covering 1.3 million local government employees - paid a below-trend 2.75% from 1 April 2004. If the rest of the public sector follows their lead, pay settlements here will be an enviable benchmark for private sector employers. However, bargaining in the sector has been slow to get off the ground this year, and it may be some time before we see a settlement picture emerging.”

News source www.onrec.com
 

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Demand for staff sees strongest rise since Jan 2001
06/08/2004

Permanent placements and temporary staff billings both rose strongly in August, says the latest REC/Deloitte Report on Jobs, published today.

The increase in staff appointments was driven by buoyant growth of demand for staff, which recorded a sharper expansion than a month earlier according to the report’s vacancies index.

Skills shortages amongst available candidates are again reported to have widened, resulting in increased pay rates of pay for those being placed in new jobs.

Commenting on the latest report, Brett Walsh of Deloitte said: “The UK recruitment market expanded strongly in August and demand for staff saw the strongest rise since January 2001. Employers are pushing ahead with strategies to increase head count following sustained economic growth.”

Recognising that demand is good news for UK workers, Gareth Osborne, managing director at REC warned: “The impact of skills shortages on wage inflation could be worrying for the economy as a whole and we should remain cautious in our labour market forecasts as recent interest rate rises take effect.”

News source www.therecruitmentconsultant.co.uk