IT hiring continues to grow faster than other job categories

IT hiring continues to grow faster than other job categories and the U.K. economy as a whole, finds KPMG/Recruitment & Employment Confederation study.

This was the second month in a row that IT led the country’s job market, the study said,contrasting the rise in demand for technologists versus that of other categories like hotel and catering, engineering/construction, and nursing/medical care.

According to tax and accounting group Bloomsbury Professional, HMRC opened 193 new investigations compared to 59 in the previous tax year.

This is very much in line with the government’s promises to crackdown on tax avoidance made in last year’s Autumn Statement, a stance that looks certain to be maintained following yesterdays’ Budget.

IR35 is tax legislation that allows the government to tax freelancers – who may work using ‘personal service companies’ – as though they were disguised employees of their clients. The legislation is designed to prevent freelancers paying lower tax rates and National Insurance on earnings when HMRC thinks they are really an employee.
Despite HMRC’s crackdown, so far the 193 new investigations have failed to turn up any compliance failures.

Martin Casimir, managing director at Bloomsbury Professional, says: “It is a common misconception that people only use personal service companies to avoid tax. For some individuals with more than one employer or for those working on a temporary basis, registering as a personal service company is a legitimate way to work.”

Job Market News: January 2013
UK jobseekers have the highest number of new opportunities at their disposal since 2009, according to the Reed Job Index, as the jobs market ended 2012 at its strongest for three years.

Highlights:
· Final quarter of 2012 strongest for vacancy numbers since 2009
· All UK regions offering more opportunities than in 2011
· Caution consistently giving way to optimism among employers

Grey Power is here to stay

Last Friday was the final day that employers in the UK could force workers to quit just for being 65. Prior to April 2011, employers could give workers between six and 12 months' notice of intention to force them to retire.  The abolishment of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) means the choice of when to stop working has been put in the hands of older workers themselves.   For those who want to keep working past 65, this is a positive development.   

Alex Currie , HR Advisor Go Compare ,  is the happy recipient of the recent £150 first  prize Recruitment Partnership  offered clients who took part in their recent customer satisfaction survey.

The results were collated from a broad range of clients from FTSE 100 to small enterprises across the UK. The results showed over  90%  of customers thought that Recruitment Partnership’s  services provided good value for money.

“Business took a break from hiring for the Olympics as a "significant" recruitment slowdown hit the market for white-collar jobs, industry professionals said today.

The latest jobs data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) revealed falling professional vacancies for both permanent and temporary staff in August. Permanent job vacancies were down 24 per cent on the same month last year, with temporary roles down 15 per cent, according to its latest snapshot of the market.

The latest jobs data covers professional workers in fields such as accountancy, law, banking, engineering, IT and marketing.

Ann Swain, chief executive, said: "This year, with the added distraction of the Olympics, some workplaces slowed almost to a standstill and businesses may have decided to put recruitment on temporary hold."”