Umbrella contractors may be interested to learn that the Reed Job Index ended 2011 with 17% more job vacancies than the year before.

However, the Job Index ended the year on 121 after falling significantly in December. In November the Index registered 133, a slight increase on the previous month’s 129.

Not surprisingly in light of the government’s spending cuts, the public sector registered the least opportunities. The Index dropped to 36 in December, down from 42 in the comparable month of 2010.

Vacancies in hospitality and catering registered a month-on-month increase of 9 points, whilst opportunities in purchasing and safety & security both rose by 1 point. The engineering sector registered the most significant year-on-year increase – up by 64 points. IT and telecoms came in second with a rise of 50. The biggest losers were banking at -41 and education at -10.

The MD of reed.co.uk, Martin Warnes, said the results are particularly striking when you consider the economic turmoil of recent months. Recruitment activity traditionally drops off in December but it is significant that the number of available opportunities still managed to end the year 17% higher than in 2010.

He went on to point out that skilled technical staff in sectors such as engineering have been much in demand, as have those with skills in IT and telecommunications. IT contractors may be able to take solace from these figures and look forward to a bright future in 2012.

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2012 will be remembered for the London Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and if one union leader is to be believed, a year of strikes.

According to Brian Sutton from the union GMB, some private sector employees are starting to consider industrial action. Confrontations between management and union representatives at Balfour Beatty, General Electric, Unilever and BMW’s Oxford Mini plant are expected in the early months of this year.

It’s also possible that public sector workers will stage more strikes over pensions. Although the government has made a new offer, there is no guarantee that union executives will accept it. Furthermore, because the government has granted concessions on pensions, employees in the public sector feel more confident that industrial action could also be an effective way to stop redundancies and pay freezes.

There has been a pay freeze in local government for the past two years, and government spending cuts decreed that the public sector has to shed a total of 710,000 jobs.  Around 50% of the total has already been achieved, made up chiefly by people who volunteered for redundancy. However, this means the public sector will now have to resort to compulsory redundancies and that is when union members might start fighting back.

Mr Sutton explained that 2011 was hard, but this year will be much harder. The unions received a real boost on November 30^th with the public sector pensions strike. He said he hoped the government would now be more realistic when it came to negotiating with the unions and appreciate that the public sector is not just there for the taking.

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PAYE umbrella company contractors may find more opportunities in the public sector in 2012 after the REC launches a new Commission.

The Flexible Work Commission will promote the benefits of utilising the UKs skilled flexible workforce to government. David Frost, the former chairman of the British Chambers of Commerce, is to chair the Commission, which will provide the government with practical proposals for re-energising the flexible labour market. A key part of the remit is to demonstrate how using skilled contractors can help government departments get the skilled people they need quickly and hence improve their productivity.

David Frost explained that the UK’s flexible workforce gives us a major competitive advantage.  The main aims of the Commission are to quantify the benefits of flexible working to both business and worker and identify ways to enhance this flexibility. As well as driving the political debate, this initiative will provide employers with practical solutions to maximise the benefits that come with a flexible workforce.

Kevin Green, the chief executive of the REC, said companies have a difficult task ahead if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Many will be looking for people with new skills. By tapping into the flexible workforce, they can respond quickly when new opportunities come around.

The Commission will analyse the latest innovations and trends and advise the government on the right way forward so the UK continues to get the best out of its dynamic, flexible labour market.

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Umbrella company contractors who receive tax credits or other financial assistance may be interested to learn that HMRC recently signed a deal with Experian to help it catch people who fraudulently claim tax credits and other benefits.

The Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions have signed a one-year contract with the credit reference agency. Experian will use data matching methods to try and reduce the £770 million the government currently overpays because claimants fail to reveal partners or income when they submit their applications.

All means tested benefits will come under the spotlight, including Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance and Pension Credit.

The coalition says it recently ran a pilot scheme, which saved it paying out more than £16 million in tax credits to fraudulent claimants. Fraud investigators are already looking into the first batch of cases identified by Experian.

Over the twelve-month contract period, the Revenue expects to save in the region of £700 million, while the Department of Work and Pensions hopes to save at least £100 million.

David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said the tie-up with Experian would enable the Revenue to step up its fight against fraudulent tax credit claimants and make sure guilty parties are caught and punished.

Last year, Experian said that the government could save at least £1 billion if it ran comprehensive checks on claimants’ personal data. At the time, the company’s public sector head of fraud said that more than £17 billion was lost every year to fraud in the public sector.

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Freelancers in the public sector have had a roller coaster year so far and they will probably be relieved to learn that demand for IT contractors in the sector rose sharply in September.

Computer People recently released its latest figures showing that roles for IT contractors in the public sector increased by 4.3% in September; a reflection that critical projects are still going ahead despite the spending cuts.

The agency commented that although times are hard in the public sector, managers are more likely to use contractors because they can attribute the costs to project budgets, rather than fixed costs.

Sid Barnes, one of Computer People’s directors, said the permanent market has fared worse than the contract one over the past half-year and this could mean contractors are getting the work that would normally have gone to permanent employees.

An increasing number of public sector projects were re-instated and new ones approved. Hiring managers also received new budgets and were keen to snap up quality contractors. The demand for C #, .Net and Oracle contractors has been steadily increasing and although database developers saw rates decrease slightly in September, it is thought there is still money in the pot.

The agency also believes demand for IT contractors will increase further in the first quarter of next year as managers try to spend any left over budget before the year-end.

However, what will that mean when it comes to the second quarter? Barnes believes that spending will reflect both budget levels and managers’ confidence levels in the IT community as a whole.

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We’re continually hearing gloomy predictions about UK economic growth and demand for contractors in many sectors has been decreasing recently.

However, that could be changing. The Reed recruitment agency has released the results of its October Jobs Index survey, which reveals the largest month on month increase in job opportunities for almost two years.

The accountancy, IT, marketing and sales sectors all saw impressive increases, and although public sector demand is still low, it increased by nine points in to end October with a reading of 66.

The Reed Job Index began in December 2009 and a baseline figure was set at 100. October’s reading was 129 indicating that demand has risen by 29% in the two-year period.

Demand in the voluntary sector increased by an impressive 43 points, whilst the IT sector rose by 24 points to end the month on 173. PAYE umbrella company contractors also saw 2.5% more temporary opportunities in October than they did in September.

Tim Lovell, Reed’s Group MD, said the October Jobs Index recorded the best month-on-month increase in employment vacancies since the index began, with all 12 UK areas witnessing at least some growth.

He went on to point out that the North/South divide that we hear so much about is not as clear cut as some would make out. Last month, there was particularly strong growth in opportunities for candidates in Yorkshire and Humberside and London.

Salaries remained pretty much unchanged in October and the Reed Salary Index now reads 97, indicating a 3% decrease since December 2009. However, the retail and leisure and tourism sectors did record increases – up to 116 and 102 respectively.

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According to jobadswatch.co.uk, the third quarter of 2011 saw an increase in the number of opportunities for IT umbrella company contractors.

The website’s data shows a 4.7% increase in the number of adverts for freelancers on the main IT and multi-sector UK recruitment sites in Q3. The number of adverts for full-time IT staff also increased, but only by 1%. However, these figures show that IT recruitment has been expanding for the last nine consecutive quarters.

Jobsadwatch expects this upturn will continue, as employers frequently turn to contractors in the first instance when hiring conditions improve.

However, there are regional disparities and IT contractors in the North West actually saw a 13% decrease in the number of job adverts in the third quarter, whilst Inner London registered the most new contracts.

Adverts for contractors with AGILE skills were up by 38%, followed by .Net with a 23% increase. AGILE is very much the new kid in town, but is rapidly gaining in popularity. There has been a 75% increase in demand for permanent staff with this particular IT skill over the past year.

None of the IT skills registered a fall in demand, but candidates hoping to secure a public sector IT contract saw a 40% drop in adverts.

Financial services firms are now looking for more IT contractors than they were this time last year, as are software houses.

The Monster Employment Index also registered a 19% increase in IT recruitment over the past 12 months. Despite this, the IT sector dropped to fifth place in the monster overall rankings. Engineering topped the chart, transport and logistics came in second and maintenance and construction occupied the third and fourth places.

Monster’s Employment Index also showed that in September, six out of the nine regions in the UK saw an annual increase in online job vacancies. Best of all was the South West where opportunities increased by 22%.

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Contractors working through an umbrella company might be interested to learn that nearly 50% of the UK’s SMEs are struggling to find the right staff.

The British Chamber of Commerce surveyed 6,000 small businesses and discovered that 45% of them felt it was either quite difficult or very difficult to find employees who were a good fit for a position.

We now have 2.57 million unemployed individuals in the UK and this figure could rise further as more people are made redundant from the public sector. Despite this, a lot of firms say candidates simply don’t possess the right skills. They complain that candidates are deficient in literacy and numeracy, whilst softer skills such as communication and timekeeping are also in short supply.

Only 45% of companies said they were very or fairly confident when it came to recruiting graduates, and that percentage dropped down to 29% when it comes to the recruitment of school-leavers with A-levels or an equivalent qualification.

The survey also showed that private sector bodies have little confidence when it comes to hiring ex-public sector workers or people who have spent at least six months without a job.

John Longworth, the BCC’s director general, said companies need capable workers in order to remain competitive and many SMEs want to expand their workforce but are struggling to find candidates with the right skills.

We have record youth unemployment and yet companies feel our education system is not equipping young people with the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need to survive in the world of work. Furthermore, employers feel that youngsters are lacking in the ‘softer’ skills, such as communication and timekeeping, which are essential to a successful work environment.

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Umbrella company contractors will be pleased to learn that despite the global economic turmoil, their rates have managed to increase.

The average hourly rate for contractors with the ten most requested skills rose from £30.84 at the end of the first half of 2011 to £31.25 now. Although this may seem to be a modest rise at just over 1%, it is still an increase.

London and the South East of England appear much healthier than the rest of the UK, and the private sector is in much better shape than the public sector.

ReThink Recruitment recently released data claiming that 40% of new roles for IT contractors are based in London. Before the recession, only a third of IT contractor roles were based in London.

Matthew Brown, the MD of Giant, pointed out that a third of contractors expect the financial services sector will create a large proportion of jobs over the next 12 months, and a lot of these companies are based either in the City or the South East. Banks are looking to increase their productivity and demand for people with cloud computing skills has risen sharply.

APSCo claims that demand across the finance sector has shot up by 65% in the past year, mainly driven by concerns over regulatory compliance.

It will come as no surprise to learn that IT contractors in the public sector are not so confident about future prospects. Only 9% believe the public sector will create more IT roles than the private sector in the coming year.

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As public sector redundancies really start to bite, more women public sector workers could be tempted to go it alone and either set up their own business or become an umbrella company contractor.

Over the last ten years, the number of women working in the public sector has risen at a faster rate than it has for men, according to the TUC. As public sector job cuts increase, so female unemployment will rise, the organisation explained, and this at a time when female unemployment is at its highest level in 23 years.

Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC, pointed out that we are already starting to see the affects of public sector cuts and areas with a high concentration of public sector employment are already feeling the pain. George Osborne’s plans to create jobs are woefully inadequate and complacency over economic growth is coming back to haunt us, he added.

Despite continuing uncertainty in the sector, many public sector workers would rather stay put than transfer to the private sector, according to Badenoch & Clark recruitment consultants.

Its survey found that two thirds of workers in the public sector are sitting tight in their present role. 15% want to stay because of better benefits but around 50% said their length of service made them reluctant to leave.

The MD of Badenoch & Clark, Nicola Linkleter, said public sector employers need to support and nurture this sentiment. They should be identifying and rewarding top talent to make sure they keep hold of key employees and are in a position to attract external talent in the future.

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Graduates struggling to find a full-time job after leaving university may decide that setting up their own business is an attractive alternative.

According to research by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, graduates are waiting up to three and a half years to secure a full-time position. The HESA surveyed 49,065 people who graduated in 2007 and discovered that 28% of them were working part-time last year. 3.5% of respondents said their status was “other” which HESA interpreted as meaning unemployed.

The general secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, said it was worrying that an increasing number of graduates remain without a job. It’s now even harder to secure employment and new students coming into a system which charges the highest university fees in entire world deserve to have better prospects. Countries which invest in their graduates will be the ones that reap the rewards.

Another study, this time from totaljobs.com has found that only 9% of graduates would rather work in the public sector than in the charity or private sector.

This does seem to be surprising considering the amount of time it takes to find a job. Totaljobs.com’s graduate director, Mike Fetters, explained that the public sector was a top destination for graduates a few years ago and there are still opportunities available despite the spending cuts. He went on to say that the public sector offers career progression and good training and graduates should at least consider the wide range of opportunities available.

The survey also found that 82% of graduate jobseekers think the jobs market is now tougher than it was a couple of years ago.

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Sage, the business software company has discovered that more than 50% of small businesses think there is still a glass ceiling for women in the workplace.

35% of respondents to the Sage survey think that women are more empathetic than men in business and 22% believe women are more aggressive when it comes to dealing with colleagues. Only 12% think men are the more aggressive sex. In Scotland, 30% of firms are led by a female, but in the North East of England that drops to less than 10%.

Earlier this year, Vince Cable and Theresa May called on FTSE 350 companies to set goals to increase the number of females in the boardroom by this September, and by 2015 to have at least 25% of senior positions held by women.

The HR director at Sage UK, Adrienne Mcfarland, sees it as a positive move for the government to address boardroom inequality, but the recommended quotas do not appear to have had the desired impact on FTSE 350 firms.

She went on to say that it might be time to think about different ways to increase the number of women at the top of listed companies, maybe through mentoring or training programmes.

However, new research by Friends Life suggests that the glass ceiling will not come down this decade. 55% of women believe a gender pay gap will still exist in 2020 and 53% think it will still be hard for women to secure a senior role.

Public sector organisations have been making big strides when it comes to offering flexible working hours for working mothers, but they still have a long way to go. The majority of working mothers would like subsidised childcare, a shorter working week and the ability to do their work at home.

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