27th January 2012

Contractors remain in demand

Contractors are still in demand, despite the issue of negotiating the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR).

This is according to the latest AWR Monitor from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which found that while there had been a slight decrease in temp billings in the January report, future hiring intentions remain positive.

Indeed, of the employers questioned, 87 per cent said that they are looking to grow or maintain their temporary staff levels over the next 12 months, while just 13 per cent stated that they would reduce these levels.

Responding to the findings, Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services, explained that the responses from recruiters appears to vary depending on the sector concerned.

He added: "There is no doubt that the regulations have created significant cost and resourcing implications for the industry but the priority has been to reassure client organisations over the ongoing viability and benefits of using agency staff.

"Providing ongoing support to members and continuing to monitor the impact will be key priorities for the REC in 2012."

The AWR have now been in place for over 100 days and have been designed to ensure that temporary and contractor workers have a similar set of basic employment rights as their permanent counterparts.