REC backs retail trade body’s push back on Guaranteed Hours: ‘Government risks booting choice out of our job market’

Responding to polling by British Retail Consortium, Neil Carberry, Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Chief Executive, said:

“Government risks booting choice out of our job market and undermining both workers and employers. People have come to rely on the flexibility to balance work with their lives, while businesses depend on temporary and agency staff to operate and grow. Our latest Recruitment Industry Status Report shows that 872,000 temporary and contract workers are on assignment on any given day. Government playing deaf to the concerns of businesses who employ a temporary workforce larger than the population of cities like Leeds or Sheffield would be a huge issue. If ministers do not take the rising cost of employment seriously, they will weaken the labour market further and the damage will keep showing up in monthly job data.”

Notes to editors

Recruitment sector contributes more than £40 billion a year to the UK economy despite tough job market, REC, December 2025