It seems that temporary staff are becoming increasingly important to businesses in their recovery plans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic 6 months ago. During these uncertain times, both employers and employees can find a real benefit from temporary work: on the one hand, it enables companies to create jobs when the future may initially look unclear, and on the other hand it gives people a chance to get back into work, earn some quick money and potentially progress into a permanent role.
According to a recent report by the REC, employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency staff have increased since May to the highest level since October 2019. It should be said that intentions to hire permanent staff have also risen somewhat, which is another sign of gradually returning confidence. For the first time since summer 2018, firms are overall more likely to consider bringing-on temporary staff than they are permanent employees over the next few months. The reasoning behind this seems to be that employers consider agency workers to be important for short-term access to key skills.
Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, said: “A flexible jobs market has always been one of the UK’s great economic assets – keeping employment high in the good times and ensuring people have more options when times are tough. Today’s data show that as lockdown eases and the economy recovers, businesses will use temporary work to start to build back. While the path ahead is still uncertain, temporary work helps firms create jobs sooner, and helps people who need new jobs get back to earning quickly.”
