Contractors are feeling extremely concerned when it comes to government policy and the negative impact it will have on business.
This is according to a new report compiled by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) and PeoplePerHour (PPH), with contractors expecting government policy to drive their business and the economy into decline over the next year.
A recent survey has revealed that three-quarters of Chief Financial Officers believe digitalisation will boost the number of contract and temp workers within the finance department.
Latest Robert Half research shows that as companies battle to adapt to the rapidly changing finance landscape, many are hiring from the financial planning and analysis sector.
In order to ensure a smooth transition as they build in-house capabilities, CFOs are hiring temporary resource with previous experience of helping firms with transformation, whilst still maintaining financial control.
New research has revealed that a large percentage of people have been asked an ‘off-limits’ question during an interview process.
The report, conducted by TopCV and CV-Library, surveyed nearly 2,000 professionals, with 73% saying they’d been asked an inappropriate or illegal question in an interview.
The topics respondents were questioned about included:
- Marital status (38%)
- Age (34%)
- Criminal convictions (32%)
- Disability and family planning (25%)
- Place of birth or ethnicity (25%)
Umbrella company contractors working within the manufacturing sector will be interested to learn that Lloyds Bank is to invest £5m into the industry.
This extra funding will support approximately 3,500 manufacturing apprentices and engineers by 2024, equipping them with the right skills required to be at the forefront of manufacturing in the future.
The IPSE is urging the government to tackle Universal Credit’s structural bias against the self-employed.
The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) told the London Assembly Economic Committee that an extended period is needed in order to fix a creaking system that unfairly punishes the self-employed and disincentivises people from striking out on their own.
With 1.6 million businesses planning to hire temporary or contract staff in the next 12 months, skills shortages created by digitalisation is thought to be the reason behind this boom in vacancies.
The latest Robert Half 2019 Salary Guide reveals just how much technology is reshaping businesses, with two in five UK organisations (38%) considering digitalisation to be the main evolving force in the workplace today.
Contractors will be pleased to learn that a recent report has shown positive results for the self-employed sector over the last month.
The latest KPMG and REC Report on Jobs revealed that billings expanded at the quickest pace since May, with hourly rates also seeing significant growth.
All 10 monitored job categories noted higher vacancies for temporary and contract workers, with the nursing/medical/care sector ranking the highest in demand.
Earlier this week, Theresa May spoke at the CBI on the ‘jobs miracle’, however, the IPSE warns that unless it changes course, it will soon experience a ‘self-employed catastrophe’.
In Theresa May’s keynote speech at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual conference, she promoted her Brexit deal and the opportunities for the continuation of what she describes as the ‘jobs miracle that sound economic management has delivered since 2010’.
Demand for oil and gas is close to reaching a historical peak of 100 million barrels a day, however, this is under threat because of skills shortages.
According to new market analysis from global energy recruiter Samuel Knight International, this has revealed a significant uptick for skills-short roles.
Contractors might be interested to learn that the top four most in demand and ‘at risk’ roles due to the skills crisis are: reservoir engineering, geologist, geomodelling and geophysicist.
Hundreds of high-tech jobs will be created from a £109 million overseas investment into the UK’s thriving FinTech, information technology and advanced engineering sectors.
There are 11 separate foreign investments that are expected to create as many as 359 jobs across the country – in London, Leeds, Newcastle and Reading.
These investments are set to have major benefits for both British consumers and businesses.
