February Industry News

Here's a selection of hand-picked recruitment news from the last 5 weeks that particularly stand out to us.

Topics cover the latest news from the Office For National Statistics, the recession in Britain, the halt in wage growth in the UK, tech proficiency checks, and more.

We hope you find this information useful - happy reading recruiters!

Britain falls into recession, with worst GDP performance in 2023 in years

The United Kingdom has slipped into recession just months ahead of a general election, official figures showed Thursday, derailing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to generate economic growth.

Gross domestic product fell 0.3% in the final three months of 2023, following a 0.1% contraction in the Jul - Sep period, the Office for National Statistics said.

What does the Budget mean for you and your money?

The chancellor's big play to the audience was a cut in the rate of National Insurance (NI) paid by 27 million employees across the UK. A fixed percentage of the money you earn from your wages is deducted in NI.

January saw the first cut in Class 1 National Insurance for employees since at least 1975, according to available data, or possibly ever. Just 3 months later, there will be another one.

Labour Market Overview: Feb 2023

This release sees the reintroduction of Labour Force Survey data, which now include the latest population information. 

Over the last year, growth in employment has slowed and over the same period the proportion of people economically inactive has increased, with historically high numbers of people reporting that they are long-term sick.

REC responds to new research on over 50's

Commenting on new research by the CIPD for the 50+ Choices Roundtable report published today, which found that nearly three quarters of over-50s are seeking flexible work to achieve a better work-life balance

“In a tight labour market making sure we find routes to keep people in work for longer is vital." - Shazia Ejaz, REC.

Wage growth slows as UK job market begins to stall

Several big recruitment companies have recently warned that the jobs market was starting to show signs of slowing.

Page Group, Hays and Robert Walters said confidence was weak among employers, with Page pointing out that the UK was its worst-performing market with profits down by around a fifth.

Three quarters of firms fail to test tech proficiency when recruiting

The world is experiencing an unprecedented talent shortage, and businesses are struggling to attract top talent. In the UK, previous research has found that 46% of employers are facing a shortage of workers to get the necessary work completed, while the situation is even more intense in countries like France and Italy, where 61% and 49% respectively report the same.