Contractors gain access to central government contracts
Contractors will be able to bid directly for central government work following the launch of a new Contracts Finder website. The initiative, championed by Prime Minister David Cameron following Sir Philip Green’s 2010 efficiency review, aims to open up central government contract awards to public scrutiny, and award 25% of all work to small and medium-sized enterprises, including contractor businesses. More…
Contractor clients facing Agency Workers Regulations costs of £1.5bn a year
Clients that regularly use contractors, interims, freelancers and temps are between them facing an annual bill of nearly £1.5bn a year to implement the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR). This huge bill has sparked fears that clients might be less likely to employ such flexible staff. According to a study by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the AWR, which comes into force in October 2011, will cost UK client organisations £40m to set up and an annual recurring cost of £1,497m to maintain. And the AWR is only one of a raft of new employment laws being introduced between now and 2014 that the BCC estimates will cost businesses £25.6bn.
Contractors’ roles in public sector IT still uncertain
Contractors’ roles in public sector IT projects remain uncertain, following a report by the National Audit Office, which suggests that Coalition promises to limit IT contractor values to a maximum of £100m may not be met. The NAO highlights that “government has not managed its relationship with large suppliers effectively”, and also notes that the government is “one of the most significant employers of ICT professionals in the UK”. NAO estimates there to be 135,000 employees and contractors working within public sector ICT. More…
IT contractors central to local authority efficiency savings
IT contractors have a key role to play in assisting local authorities make efficiency savings whilst maintaining and improving service levels. Research from outsourced services and IT firm Civica shows that targeted investment in IT to re-design existing service processes, plus exploring new channels such as mobile working, are central to local authority cost-saving strategies. “Growing acceptance of new service channels…plus a willingness to use existing technology platforms to reinvent service options, shows a clear drive for innovation within very tightly constrained budgets in the public sector,” says Civica local government division MD Bill Loughrey.
Surprise fall in financial IT contractor recruitment
Financial IT contractor recruitment fell by 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010, representing the first fall in demand for IT contractors in the financial services sector since 2009. The January 2011 CWJobs.co.uk/JobsAdsWatch.co.uk survey also reveals that, despite contract vacancies increasing 0.9% in the final quarter of 2010, demand for both permanent and contract IT workers has halved since the start of the recession. More…
Improved fortunes ahead for IT contractors following City jobs boom?
Following the surprise fall in demand in the final quarter of 2010, the fortunes of financial services IT contractors may be restored in 2011, following a 142% increase in job opportunities in London’s financial service sector in January. As the largest single UK consumer of IT contractors’ services, the health of the IT contracting market closely mirrors trends in the financial sector, which, according to January’s Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor, has seen job opportunities increase by 28% compared to January 2010. More…
Rate increase and more contracts forecast for oil and gas contractors
Oil and gas contractors are over the worst of the recession and can expect increased rates and an increasing number of contract opportunities during 2011. The Oil & Gas Global Salary Guide 2011, published by Hays Oil & Gas and Oil and Gas Job Search, also reveals that skills shortages are looming. According to Hays Oil & Gas Managing Director Matt Underhill, contractors have seen immediate financial benefits from the upturn: “We have seen growth [in contract rates] across the board of between 10 and 20 per cent.” More…
PCG lobbying secures victory for contractors over Intra Company Transfers (ICTs)
PCG’s work with the UK Borders Agency has led to new rules “that are set to stamp out the abuse of Intra Company Transfers (ICTs) by big businesses in the UK,” according to a PCG statement. The new rules, which come into force from 1 April 2011, will prevent firms operating in the UK from transferring workers paid under £40,000 into the UK under ICTs for more than one year. Originally designed to allow organisations to bring in highly specialist workers with skills not available in the UK, the ICT rules have, according to PCG, been widely abused. PCG Head of Public Affairs Simon McVicker explains: “Through our membership we have been able to actively expose big businesses using this loophole to the UK Borders Agency (UKBA), highlighting cases of cheap labour coming to the UK under the ICT banner.” More…
A quarter of all new recruits will be hired on a temporary contract
Contracting will account for one in four of all new recruits taken on by private sector organisations in early 2011, rising to four in ten in public sector organisations. That’s according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)/KPMG Labour Market Outlook for Winter 2010-11. The report also highlights that 18% of all migrant workers in the UK work in IT and 16% are engineers. That seems to mirror demand, as the top two roles employers find hardest to fill are in IT (15%) and engineering (23%). More…
Self-employment falls, alongside employment, in the last quarter of 2010
Having reached an historic high in the third quarter of 2010, self-employment fell by 49,000 in the final quarter of 2010 to reach 3.98m. This suggests that many would-be contractors and freelancers have been unable to secure contracts and freelance work, although the number of self-employed working part-time has increased. Overall employment also fell, leading to an increase in total UK unemployment to nearly 2.5m. More…