Current News

The REC has today responded to the TUC report on satisfaction levels within the UK workforce.  Although the report flags up some important issues, the REC has countered the generally negative interpretation that the TUC has placed on the findings.  

Commenting on report’s findings, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Relations said: “The survey shows that over two-thirds of the UK workforce is actually happy with their work. Yes there are issues for employers to reflect on, but we do not need to systematically talk down the UK as a place to work.  

“In many ways the UK is a good place to work, with a genuine progress on issues such as diversity and equality and flexibility. Most importantly, the UK labour market provides opportunity in terms of job-seekers being able to access work and subsequently progress within the labour market.

"The UK recruitment industry plays a vital role within this context by helping jobseekers identify and secure the right jobs at the right time within their career – whether it be temporary placements to get a foothold into the world of work or top level executive posts for highly qualified and skilled workers.” 

The TUC report identifies stress and excessive workloads as some of the major causes of dissatisfaction amongst workers.

Commenting on this, Hadley concludes: “Increased workload is an issue and is to some extent the consequence of an increasingly competitive global marketplace in most sectors. The key for employers is to manage this in terms of stress and to use flexible staffing as a means of limiting excessive workloads on existing workers”.  

The REC has consistently argued that temporary work plays a vital role in enabling employers to cope with peaks in demand.  REC research has shown that If this was not an available resource, employers would pass work on to their existing workforce and expect them to work longer hours. In the most recent REC Key Recruitment Trends Report, a total of 48 per cent of employers, when asked what they would do when they were unable to use temporary workers supplied through an agency, said they would cover the workload with their existing workforce or make them work overtime. 

The TUC Report also challenges the perception that permanent employees are by definition more satisfied that temporary and contract workers. For example, the most recent REC survey, research showed 84 per cent of temporary workers were satisfied with their jobs.  

The REC will be meeting the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber later this month and we will be providing members of an overview of the discussions. In addition, the TUC has agreed to feed into the work of the REC’s Agency Work Commission which was launched last week.