Awareness of Jobs Policies Mixed Ahead of General Election – REC

 

As voting for the general election opens today the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has released the results of their ‘Question Time quiz’, which has run for the last five weeks to gauge awareness of political parties’ policies on jobs.

 

The quiz has been advertised across political websites, social media, and within REC communications, and has attracted over 1,150 participants. The data shows:

 

• Eight in ten participants correctly identified that Labour has pledged to raise National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019. 
• More than six in ten participants correctly answered “Conservative” when asked which party has pledged to cap immigration levels to the “tens of thousands”, while 34 per cent thought this was a UKIP policy. 
• Less than a quarter of participants correctly said that the Liberal Democrats would double the number of employers with apprentices, with 57 per cent attributing this pledge to the Conservatives and 19 per cent saying that this is a Labour policy
• Almost four in ten participants failed to answer correctly when asked what proportion of the British people have worked as a contractor, freelancer or agency worker at some point in their career.

 

REC Director of Policy Tom Hadley says:

 

“As the country goes to the polls it will be a momentous day for the UK labour market. 

 

“Employment has been one of the biggest issues of this election campaign with all parties proposing policies that would have an impact on the UK labour market. Our quiz has been a way of raising awareness about these important debates, and it’s been interesting to see the results.

 

“Labour’s pledge about raising National Minimum Wage seems to have gotten through, but on the other hand a lot of people couldn’t recognise the Lib Dem’s pledge to double the number of apprenticeships, and over a third of participants failed to distinguish between the Conservatives and UKIP on immigration.

 

“It’s also interesting to note that, while 36 per cent of the UK workforce have worked as a temp worker at some point in their career, four in ten people that took the quiz thought that this type of work was much less common than it actually is. This suggests there is a way to go to make people aware of some of the realities of the UK jobs market, and to provide context for the debates around jobs that we see play out amongst politicians and in the media.

 

“The REC looks forward to working with the government to increase employment and progression within work.” 

 

The REC Question Time quiz is part of a wider campaign to encourage policy-makers to create the best jobs market in the world and is available on the REC website at www.rec.uk.com/recqt and as a Facebook app.

 

 

Ends

 

Notes to editors:

 

1. The REC set out its priorities for the next government in Building the best jobs market in the world: The REC’s manifesto for jobs, available online at www.rec.uk.com/manifesto

 

REC Question Time quiz

 

Q1 - Which political party has pledged to raise National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019?

• 80 per cent of participants correctly answered “Labour”

• 11.5 per cent answered “Green Party”

• 8.5 per cent answered “SNP”

 

Q2 - Which party wants to double the number of employers with apprentices – meaning up to 4 million new apprentices – by targeting the apprenticeship grant directly at employers?

• 24 per cent correctly answered “Liberal Democrat”

• 57 per cent answered “Conservative”

• 19 per cent answered “Labour”

   

Q3 - In 2010, which party pledged that immigration levels would be capped and limited to the “tens of thousands”?

• 63 per cent correctly answered “Conservative”

• 34 per cent answered “UKIP”

• 3 per cent answered “Liberal Democrat”

 

Q4 - Which political party has called for workers to have greater clarity about their employment rights, no matter what kind of contract they’re on?

• 13 per cent answered “Conservative”

• 61 per cent answered “Labour”

• 26 per cent answered “Liberal Democrat”

 

All three answeres to this question are correct.

 

Q5 - What proportion of the British people have worked as a contractor, freelancer or agency worker at some point in their career?

• 62 per cent correctly answered “36 per cent”

• 30 per cent answered “22 per cent”

• 8 per cent answered “15 per cent”