Does social recruiting actually deliver?

We’ll be considering the questions most often asked of any recruiter (or ‘recruitment guru’) who espouses the benefits of using social media in recruitment. Does it actually work? Can I actually hire somebody by using Social Media?  Where does direct sourcing fit into this mix?  Is it really an integrated approach or just another series […]

SMEs the place to be, say interim managers

Many interim managers would prefer to work for small-to-medium-sized businesses even if they have to take a 50% pay cut to do so, according to research.  A survey of 1,500 interim managers commissioned by specialist provider Interim Partners found that 31% would prefer their next role to be in a small business compared with only […]

Christmas temp labour shortage

Although growing numbers of employers are looking to take on temps in favour of permanent staff over the next 12 months, high levels of demand for temporary labour are creating shortages in the run-up to Christmas despite rising unemployment levels.  According to a survey among 600 employers undertaken by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), […]

Globalisation creates challenges for HR

Globalisation across workforces has seen exponential growth in the last two decades, and after a dip during the most recent recession, is now emerging again within HR, creating challenges as well as opportunities, and tremendous uncertainty. In a new major study by the IBM Institute for Business Value, more than 700 chief HR officers and […]

Ask the expert: Internal job post -applications after closing date?

The experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on whether late applications can be accepted in an internal job post.   The question: Internal job post – applications after closing date?  My employer listed a job on the internal recruitment website; for a position which I applied; I know for a fact I am the […]

3/5 workers overestimate their value to employers

Although nearly four out of five UK workers would like to change employer, three fifths overestimate their financial value.  According to a survey undertaken by vocational distance learning provider the Home Learning College, while some 78% of staff would like a new job, just over a third are actively looking.  Some 27% have chosen not […]

Recruiters beware: 2/3 of jobseekers lie about previous salary

Just over two thirds of potential job candidates inflate the salary that they were paid in their last position in a bid to get more money, making it the most common interview fib. Next on the list come lies about candidates’ qualifications or grades in order to impress potential employers (61%), followed by bending the […]

Morrisons to employ and train 1000 homeless

The Morrisons supermarket chain is to give 10% of the 10,000 new jobs it creates by opening a raft of new stores to homeless and other vulnerable people.  The UK’s fourth largest retailer, which is running the initiative in partnership with the Salvation Army and social enterprise Create, aims to train homeless staff in traditional […]

Director who withheld £11k banned from running business

The director of a recruitment firm has been banned from running a similar business for seven years after withholding wages from staff.  Christine Lewiss from Trimmingham near Norwich ran two recruitment firms, Rail Recruit UK Ltd and Rail Recruit UK Projects Ltd, which supplied employers with rail workers. The action was taken against her following […]

Job creation plan: time to get real

The coalition government must act quickly to flesh out its National Infrastructure Plan to boost job creation and stimulate economic growth as it currently lacks the necessary specifics to generate business confidence, employers have warned.  At business lobby group the CBI’s annual conference yesterday Prime Minister David Cameron outlined his “strategy for growth” for the […]

Immigration cap already too tight

Despite an overall drop in the use of temporary agency workers during September, the social care, logistics and manufacturing sectors are being hard hit by the coalition government’s temporary cap on skilled labour from outside Europe.  According to a study undertaken by consultancy de Poel, which helps employers optimise their relationships with recruitment agencies, just […]

Public sector workers not suitable for private sector jobs

Although 85% of the 600,000 public sector workers facing redundancy would consider working in the private sector, more than 90% of commercial employers believe that their background and experience is irrelevant. The situation is not helped by the fact that 87% of private sector bosses believe that public sector candidates need to better identify and communicate […]

Equality Act: It’s recruitment, but not as we know it…?

We consider what changes will need to be made to recruitment in reality in the light of the equality act. Fergal Dowling, Partner in the Employment team at law firm Irwin Mitchell warns recruiting is tough enough as it is but now there are more things to look out for than ever before. The advice […]

Career management for retention and engagement

It might seem a bit out of place for an employer to get involved in career managing its employees – after all, isn’t a career a personal thing? However that’s no longer the case. Despite economic pessimism, there is still demand for talent and the skills gap means there will always be demand for those […]

Milkround still valued by graduates

Graduate recruiters should not dismiss the value of the traditional ‘milk round’ as two thirds of final year students intend to use the experience to help make up their minds as to which employer to go for.  According to a survey among 915 students that are about to graduate undertaken by recruitment outsourcers TMP Worldwide, […]

Top tips for mitigating seasonal recruitment risks

Fiona Dawson of Experian Background Checking explores the risks and rewards of recruiting temporary staff and offers top tips for building a reliable and flexible workforce to meet seasonal as well as ongoing business demands. According to the latest figures from the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies (CIETT), the UK has the highest number […]

Talent drain evident as ‘notice week’ ends

Almost half of UK workers intend to start looking for a new job by the end of the year, but more employees are likely to hand in their notice this week than at any other time during the previous 12 month period.  According to a survey undertaken among 7,500 staff in 10 of Europe’s leading […]

Bosses confident growth is around the corner: podcast

Is growth in business or hiring just around the corner? A study of European business leaders has revealed nearly 40% are planning to invest in existing talent, while a quarter claim they will invest in training as this long awaited confidence makes a welcome return to the market with over half of all companies across […]

Employing graduates: Easy as 1,2,3?

A continuing high level of unemployment among graduates, where 10% of the total graduate population failed to find any form of work last year, provokes the question: are universities adequately equipping students with the transferable skills required for the workplace? ‘Traditional degrees’ have been under fire for not properly preparing young people for the world […]

Overseas labour still in demand to fill skills gap despite jobless Britons

Despite high levels of domestic unemployment, organisations are turning to both migrant workers and offshore outsourcers in a bid to plug UK skills gaps as the economy starts to recover.  According to the quarterly ‘Labour Market Outlook’ survey published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and management consultancy KPMG, some 45% of […]