PAYE umbrella contractors with interim management experience are enjoying a large surge in demand, as banks seek senior to staff to help them sell non-core businesses and loan portfolios, according to the specialist recruiter Interim Partners. An Ipsos-MORI poll conducted for the Interim Management Association reveals a 22% rise between Q1 and Q3 last year, [...]
Contractors working through umbrella companies or limited companies may find the latest Reed Job Index encouraging. The data reveals a distinct growth in demand for new staff in December 2011 – up 17% on the same time the previous year and over 20% higher than in December 2009. The overall growth was largely driven by [...]
It’s no secret that IT contracting took a mauling in the financial sector during 2011 (permanent IT posts have also suffered) but, thankfully, the IT skills market is bigger than banking alone; jobbing PAYE umbrella techies will have plenty of opportunities in 2012 to move on to pastures new; perhaps especially in the burgeoning field [...]
PAYE umbrella contractors should focus on specific sectors in specific regions rather than relying on general surveys, the REC suggests. Reports like the recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development forecast, which we reported on yesterday, could leave the jobbing PAYE umbrella contractor feeling more than a tad despondent. A flat-lining labour market was predicted [...]
Many people entering the world of contracting do so by setting up their own limited companies. But it’s not the only option, especially for newcomers to the contractor community. Carefully consider your motives and priorities for becoming a contractor before making up your mind. If managing your own accounts (or outsourcing this task to specialist [...]
Contractors are divided between optimists, pessimists and stoics vis-à-vis business prospects for 2012, according to a recent PCG poll amongst its members. 23% of respondents appeared quite bullish about business in 2012, declaring that they expected prospects to improve. However, the confirmed optimists were a relative minority: the rest were split right down the middle. [...]
PAYE umbrella contractors with skills in manufacturing and engineering could well find themselves urgently in demand during 2012, as recently released data from the ONS suggests that the government’s hopes of moving the UK economy beyond its reliance on financial services suffered a setback: ‘human capital’ has declined for the first time in nine years. [...]
We reported yesterday on the REC’s commitment to taking up the government’s red tape challenge in 2012 with the aim of advancing opportunities for PAYE umbrella contactors and other flexible workers. However, they will have their work cut out for them according to a recent analysis by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which concludes [...]
Christmas Eve marks the day that the AWR’s first batch of ‘equal treatment’ provisions kick in to effect for temporary workers, a significant proportion of whom, of course, are made up of highly skilled PAYE umbrella contactors. This Saturday sees the end of the first 12-week qualifying period defined by the Agency Workers Regulations, which [...]
We’ve recently reported on a number of surveys suggesting that IT contracting in the UK is in rude health despite the grim economic climate. Now Reed Recruitment has joined the optimistic chorus, with its senior divisional director, Andrew Gardner, predicting that freelancers in the IT skills market will continue to enjoy high demand in Q1 [...]
