REC response to Low Pay Britain 2024 report

Responding to the Resolution Foundation’s Low Pay Britain 2024 report examining the government’s proposed employment reforms, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) Deputy Chief Executive Kate Shoesmith said:

“The workforce has changed dramatically since Labour was last in power and it would make sense for the government to conduct a long-overdue workplace employment relations study to provide the evidence-base for a robust workforce strategy. And to stretch planned new regulation of the labour supply chain to cover relatively new actors such as umbrella companies and joint employment models. 

“Without these, we risk outdated assumptions such as in today’s think-tank report determining the future working lives of the one million temps who are placed into work in the UK every day. The reality is that flexible temporary work is giving people confidence to return to work or the skills they need to get into work and then progress, helping businesses manage workloads efficiently, and for entrepreneurs to get their start ups running. This is why our Voice of the Worker campaign launched this week is so vital because it provides policymakers with further insight into the lives of temporary workers and the often life-changing possibilities that working in this way can offer.

“This is why a continuation of the new government's partnership approach with business and industry is vital to achieve a balance between individual people’s increasing desire for flexibility and employers’ increasing demands for a versatile workforce.”

Notes to editors

As part of the REC’s Voice of the Worker Campaign, it commissioned Whitestone Insight to interview 520 temp agency workers in Britain online between 7th and 11th June 2024. Whitestone Insight is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Its headline findings

• More than half of temp agency workers (53%) believe that this is the right kind of role for their current stage in life. This is equivalent to over 750,000 workers who are content with this form of employment.
• More than eight in ten temp agency workers (81%) say that their work provides a much-needed income.
• Labour’s ‘New Deal for Working People’ focusses on the need for flexibility, which temporary work clearly provides. Almost eight in ten temp agency workers (79%) say their work provides an important need for flexibility.
• More than two thirds of temp agency workers (68%) say that their work provides a greater work-life balance.
• Almost one in three temp workers (28%) say that their roles work better for their family lives.
• Almost one in three temp workers (28%) say that without temp work they would likely struggle to find any work.
• More than one in three temp workers (34%) would rather be in a temp agency job than a permanent contract.
• One in six temporary agency workers (15%) say that if they were not in temp work, they would not be in paid work at all. According to the latest data, there are 1,427,000 temp workers in the UK (as of April 2024). If 15% were to no longer be in employment, this would equate to 214,050 left unemployed and without income.

Click here to view all REC press releases and for more information and interview enquiries, contact the REC Press Office on 020 7009 2157, 020 7009 2129 or pressoffice@rec.uk.com. Outside of regular office hours, please call 07702 568 829.

The REC is the voice of the recruitment industry, speaking up for great recruiters. We drive standards and empower recruitment businesses to build better futures for great candidates and themselves. We are champions of an industry which is fundamental to the strength of the UK economy.

Find out more about the Recruitment & Employment Confederation at www.rec.uk.com.

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