Current News
10 Sep 2007
Better skills and progressive immigration policy are needed to meet labour market needs
Commenting on the plan to create 250,000 jobs, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Relations, said: “Recruitment agencies already play a pivotal role in providing the link between employers who need workers and workers who need jobs. Enhancing the skills and employability of job-seekers is essential in order to swell the pool of job-ready candidates in what remains a very tight labour market in a number of sectors.
“Ongoing co-operation between the public and private sector is crucial and recruitment agencies up and down the country are already working more closely with Jobcentre Plus”.
The focus on more opportunities for British job-seekers is linked to other recent announcements on the tightening of immigration criteria - in particular, the need for migrant workers to demonstrate English language skills.
In response to this, Hadley concludes: “Over the past few years it is thought that around 500,000 central Europeans have moved to the UK to work, and yet there remain over 600,000 job vacancies. Recruitment professionals will continue to play a key role in enabling job-seekers to access local job opportunities.
“However, the longer-term focus on ensuring that workers can develop the appropriate skills needed by employers should come hand in hand with an immigration system that continues to help fill the immediate skills gaps in our economy.”
