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Employers 'ride the storm' with temps

An increasing number of firms are hiring temporary workers because of the current economic climate, it is claimed. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has said that the number of temporary posts has risen at a “solid pace” in recent months - while the amount of permanent jobs fell.

Pay rises were curbed by the slowing demand for full-time staff, according to a study of 400 employment consultancies.

Kevin Green, the confederation’s chief executive, said: “The credit crunch is continuing to slow permanent job growth - however, employers still need to resource. An increasing number of companies are using temps as a way to ride the storm. Every week, 1.3 million temporary workers are keeping business in the UK moving.”

Alan Nolan of advisory firm KPMG, which helped with the research, said: “These latest figures confirm a trend we have seen emerging over the last couple of months.

“In the current economic slowdown, employers continue to look towards the flexible labour market as a way to cut costs rather than taking on staff permanently. With city redundancies contributing to a growing pool of labour and increases in the cost of living forcing some families to find a second income, employers currently hold the upper hand in the job market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .