Leading the industry
the view... Business is booming, but take the time to prepare for more challenging days to come, says
Neil Carberry,
REC Chief Executive
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ate last year, the economy bounced back to prepandemic levels – and the buoyant mood among recruiters certainly backed that up! We’ve come a long way in the past two years. Omicron had less of an impact than previous Covid strains, and we expect decent growth in 2022. Certainly, the first few weeks of the year proved very positive. But while the sun shines, we should recall it also rains. In times like these, leaders should be cautious and prepare for when the boom slows. I’m no pessimist, but we cannot know what October 2022 will be like. The odds are that it won’t be the same as January. Our JobsOutlook survey of clients identifies three headwinds, aside from Covid. Labour shortages still constrain activity and Brexit has added barriers to trade. But the major worry for every business leader that I speak to is inflation; we are all watching its effects closely. Employer confidence in the broader economy is dropping, but I hope some of this concern is transient. There are reasons for optimism – most employers still plan to hire and invest in their companies. Inevitably, leaders must think about the future sustainability of their business model. Clients are dealing with rising costs across the board, from energy and supplies to wages and taxes. Staffing companies can play a valuable role here as advisers on all aspects of workforce planning. Clients will need that more than ever as they try to adapt. And we also need to look after our own houses. Chasing salaries up, and tolerating huge price rises from suppliers, could fundamentally damage firms’ ability to adapt to change. We need to train more consultants, not just fight over the pool of good people we have. The REC will be working on a range of initiatives to support you with that, from apprenticeships and new material on careers in recruitment to advice on handling suppliers. Your counsel will be indispensable to clients in the months to come – but make sure you practice what you preach at home. If you want to keep up to speed with all things recruitment then follow me on Twitter @RECNeil
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CAMPAI G N S
Disability workforce reporting Shazia Ejaz, Director of Campaigns at the REC
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s part of the National Disability Strategy, the government recently consulted on the introduction of mandatory disability workforce reporting for large companies. The intention is to ensure greater transparency around levels of employment of disabled people with a view to making workplaces more inclusive. In principle, that is the right thing to do, but there are some aspects of the consultation that could have serious implications for the recruitment industry and we need to consider these. The government proposes that reporting would apply to “large companies” – those with 250 employees or more. However, it’s unclear whether the definition of “employee” would include an employment business’s temporary workforce. If so, this will affect the number of recruiters this requirement applies to. Smaller agencies may also struggle to manage the administrative process if temporary workers are included. If the government moves forward with these proposals, individuals may have concerns about the way their personal data is gathered and used. If mandatory reporting is introduced, individuals should have the opportunity to opt out of the data-sharing process to protect their personal data freedoms. The way in which any data gathered for this purpose is used also needs to be transparent. The introduction of disability reporting should not be a tick-box exercise. An external body, either government-led or independent, should be set up to ensure that the reporting data is analysed effectively and can lead to changes if necessary. Disability workforce reporting is potentially a useful tool to drive equality, diversity and inclusion, but only if the reporting requirements are implemented in a meaningful way. The consultation, which the REC has responded to on behalf of members, is now closed and we will have to wait until June for the government’s response. We will keep members up to date with any developments in the meantime.
Recruitment Matters March-April 2022
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