Contractors might want to consider acquiring renewable energy skills after it was announced that 10,000 new direct jobs could be created in tidal and wave power by 2020.

The UK’s first Marine Energy Park will be located in the southwest, stretching from Bristol to the Isles of Scilly.

RenewableUK’s recent report entitled ‘Channelling the Energy’ claims that the UK’s existing skills base will not be able to deliver the growth the industry needs. However, it goes on to say that the problem can be resolved.

Small steps are already being taken. In 2010, the Renewables Training Network, a joint initiative between the government and the renewables sector, set up a wind turbine service technician apprenticeship.

David Green, a director of the Network, said that geography is one of the major challenges when it comes to sourcing talent for remote projects. However, contractors with a strong background in electrical and mechanical engineering have the cross sector skills necessary to transition into the renewable sector.

David Blake from recruitment firm Allen & York recently explained that the renewable energy sector was already suffering from a shortage of talent, but specialist recruiters should be able to source candidates from outside the industry and offer them realistic advice.

He went on to say that the best sources of talent are currently the aerospace, energy and oil and gas industries. There is also available talent in some European countries.

Graduates can also now receive training in wave energy and windmill technology thanks to an investment of £6.5 million from the BIS.

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Contractors working in HR and IT could see a growth in opportunities this year.

Adecco recently said that we can expect to see gradual jobs growth this year, led by the HR and IT sectors. The Olympics will also provide a welcome boost to the market.

The recruiter’s Job Watch survey showed that hiring slowed down considerably towards the end of last year. Despite the festive season, temporary recruitment in the retail sector actually declined, but permanent hiring increased. The survey also showed that the HR and IT sectors demonstrated tentative growth in the last couple of months of 2011.

Adecco’s MD, Steven Kirkpatrick, said jobs still exist and jobseekers shouldn’t give up. It is important for them to boost their chances by considering all the options, successfully marketing their skills and searching for opportunities.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will create ten of thousands of opportunities, which will give jobseekers the opportunity to apply for a position outwith their usual sector and help them gain new skills and valuable experience.

SMEs also need to ready themselves for the possible disruption caused by the Games. BT recently surveyed 600 SMEs and discovered that 30% have not yet thought about disruption to the supply chain process during the Games, nor have they considered staffing levels.

Even SMEs who are not directly affected could have customers or suppliers in London who will be impacted by the Games. Furthermore, more than 33% of businesses think they might have staffing problems when employees are either unable to get to work, or want time off during the Olympics.

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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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Umbrella company contractors with international skills could find themselves in demand after Vince Cable said people with such skills were in short supply.

During a speech to the British Council, the business minister pointed out that companies need staff with cultural awareness, linguistic abilities and overseas experience if the UK is to achieve sustainable economic growth. In order to ensure this, the workforce in the UK must understand that globalisation is important to their careers and that without these skills we will be less likely to be a competitive force on the international stage.

Cable went on to say that at the moment the UK firms are not well enough equipped to conduct international business at the required level. We currently have a situation where companies that trade with other cultures are having difficulties recruiting staff.

He urged British businesses to make sure they have the staff with the skills necessary to conduct business overseas, export goods and services and attract inward investment.

Not only do we not have people with the right skills to do business overseas, it also transpires that British SMEs lag behind their European counterparts when it comes to e-commerce.

Research from the Epson Business council has discovered that just 59% of small firms in the UK think e-commerce provides them with a business opportunity. Across Europe as a whole, the figure is 72%. One in three SMEs in the UK think e-commerce channels threaten their business and although 78% do sell their products or services over the Internet, countries such as Italy have a much larger e-commerce presence.

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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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Last week’s unemployment figures made depressing reading for everybody, including umbrella company contractors.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that 2.62 million people were unemployed in the third quarter of this year. Youth unemployment is a matter of grave concern, with the figures showing that 1.016 million young people are now without a job.

Kevin Green, the chief executive of the REC, was clearly distressed with the youth unemployment figures and said the government needs to take urgent action to rectify the situation.

He reiterated his calls for a National Insurance holiday for small businesses that hire young people. Furthermore he urged businesses and recruitment experts to raise awareness and create better avenues into work.

Government policy must revolve around jobs and growth, he continued, and George Osborne’s Autumn Statement later this month must kick-start the process. The government must start taking real action – just talking about it is no longer good enough.

Will rising unemployment be enough of a deterrent to stop workers looking for pastures new? According to a study by Train4TradeSkills, more than 25% of workers are dissatisfied with their current position and the majority of them intend to make a career change within the next five years.

Top of the dissatisfaction table comes people working in the retail sector. With only 14% saying they are very satisfied in their job. People in the leisure and hospitality sector are the most satisfied, but at only 27% the percentage is still not high.

Interestingly, 46% of the employees questioned for the survey said they wanted to be their own boss. With unemployment continuing to rise, self-employment may be the only option available to the UK’s dissatisfied workforce.

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According to latest data from the REC, the recruitment industry in the UK grew by 25% in the last 12 months and a lot of this growth can be attributed to the increase in demand for PAYE umbrella company contractors.

Turnover from permanent placements was £2.5 billion – 37% up on the previous 12 months, but turnover from temporary assignments leapt up to £22 billion from £17.4 billion.

There were more than a million temporary placements in the 12-month period, compared to 879,000 in the previous 12 months.

Kevin Green, the chief executive of the REC, said that the recruitment market is still tough, but it is vital that UK businesses recognise the importance of having a flexible, highly skilled workforce.

Employers are understandably nervous about hiring full-time permanent members of staff at a time when the European economy seems to be crumbling. But strangely enough, this doesn’t seem to be translating into more opportunities for IT contractors.

In its latest Report on Jobs, the REC said IT contractor demand fell to a low of 52.1. Although this is up on the corresponding period last year, demand for temporary IT workers has now been falling for seven consecutive months.

However, demand for permanent IT staff is on the rise and KPMG, the co-author of the Report, said this was the one positive piece of news to come out of the latest research.

REC members are still struggling to find suitably qualified candidates to fill both full-time and temporary roles in Java Development and they have also had to contend with a shortage of freelance Business Analysts.

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Research by the Association of Recruitment Consultancies suggests that the contractor workforce in the UK may be about to suffer because of the implementation of AWR.

Slightly over 50% of the survey’s respondents think that at least some of their clients will reduce the their temporary headcount in the next 12 months. Furthermore, a lot believe that clients will need to spend as much as 10% of their working day doing admin tasks now that AWR is in place.

ARC chairman, Adrian Marlowe, said unemployment is at its highest level for decades and the government should be doing everything it can to safeguard agency workers’ jobs and support the companies that hire them. The AWR are causing more harm than good.

He went on to explain that it’s important for the UK to retain a flexible workforce and therefore systems must support both businesses and agency workers. The new AWR don’t benefit either group.

However, these results are in sharp contrast to those discovered by the REC in its recent Recruitment Industry Trends Survey, which found that the recruitment industry grew by 25% in the year to March 2011.

The REC predicts that the recruitment industry will continue to grow and turnover could reach £33.5 billion by 2014.

Kevin Green, the REC’s chief executive, said the recruitment industry is demonstrating resilience, but there is still a long way to go. We’re only six months into the government’s four-year austerity plan and more public sector cuts are on the way.

However, the government now recognises that it is vital for the UK economy to have a flexible workforce and this is a great opportunity for firms to come up with creative ways to use these valuable resources.

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Contractors may be interested to learn that the UK hires more online freelancers than any other European country.

Elance, the online freelance jobs market, recently released survey findings that showed that the UK hires the greatest number of online freelancers, followed by Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Fabio Rosati, the CEO of Elance, said the UK is leading the trend for online workers. Businesses appreciate the flexibility of a freelance workforce and contractors are snapping up online working opportunities now that traditional employment routes are stagnating.

He went on to explain that this trend could be seen across Elance’s platform as companies turn to freelancers and contractors to finish projects and fill skills gaps.

Maybe not surprisingly, companies in London hire the most contractors from the Elance site. However, in recent months, there has been an 89% growth in online hiring from firms in Birmingham and 59% from companies based in Reading.

Meanwhile, the REC will be extolling the virtues of the flexible working market when it participates in the European Employment forum later this month.

Tom Hadley will chair the meeting and will focus on the role recruiters in the private sector can play in national labour markets.

Hadley said he was delighted to be invited to such a high-profile event and says it shows recognition for the role the UK recruitment industry is playing in promoting flexible labour and helping to tackle youth unemployment.

In addition to the opportunity to highlight the REC’s Youth Employment Charter, the Forum in Brussels will provide a great chance to exchange views with other European employment experts, he added.

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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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Employers are increasingly turning to the flexible workforce, including freelancers, to help them survive during the current turbulent economic climate.

The REC recently published a paper entitled “Talent Acquisition in Turbulent Times” which highlights a change away from the traditional model of managing talent in favour of a model based around Talent on Demand. This allows companies to align their talent requirements with their dynamic business objectives and move away from a fixed base of resources to a more flexible one.

External recruiters have a vital role to play in this new model, providing companies with unique access to a pool of candidates with rare skills.

Roger Tweedy, the director of research at the REC, said the emerging open model challenges the existing internal recruitment solutions that are becoming bogged down by the pressures of time and cost.

HR departments face some serious issues as global talent shortages get worse and companies need to alter their approach to acquiring talent. Employers face major challenges if they want to secure the best candidates and gain competitive advantage, Tweedy continued. As well as addressing rapidly changing technology and a lack of suitably qualified people within their organisation, they will also have to consider a new breed of candidate and new ways of working.

We need to identify new robust recruitment models that can withstand the challenges of the future. Leading recruitment agencies are already developing new ways to match both active and passive candidates with employers and these new tools enable recruiters to provide better value for their clients and build up vital strategic relationships.

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The Agency Workers Regulations should not prevent organisations using umbrella company contractors to build a flexible workforce, according to the REC.

The REC insists that UK companies still have a variety of options including the Swedish Derogation Model that has already been adopted by Tesco. The Confederation stressed that this is a legitimate supply model and should not be viewed as a “get out clause”.

Kevin Green, the chief executive of the REC, said that AWR has encouraged employment agencies to design innovative recruitment methods. Some have hired their temps on a permanent basis, which is obviously good news for the temporary workers who will benefit from added job security.

With the Swedish Derogation Model, the recruitment agency becomes the temps’ employer and must pay its workers when they are in-between assignments. It’s not a way round AWR, rather it’s a great way of making sure the UK still has a flexible workforce, said Green.

The main issue surrounding the Swedish Derogation Model is one of commercial viability because it exposes agencies to increased risk and obligations. In order to make it work, there needs to be strong collaboration between recruiters and their clients.

He went on to explain that in the majority of cases, new supply models are not necessary. In the majority of sectors, temporary workers’ pay is on a par with, if not higher than, their permanent counterparts. Furthermore, around 50% of all temporary assignments are for less than 12 weeks and are therefore not bound by AWR.

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