UK – Outsourced security guards go on strike, demand direct employment (Morning Star)

Security guards at St George’s medical school in London went on strike this week demanding an end to their contracts with outsourcing giant Noonan, reports The Morning Star. The 25 guards, who are largely black, Asian and minority ethnic, are demanding to be employed directly by St George’s, University...

Netherlands – Horizon Group takes over temp employment agency Flexcraft Group

Netherlands-based employment agency Horizon Group announced that it has acquired Dutch temporary employment agency Flexcraft Group.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The merger took effect from 8 January 2020.

According to Horizon, which owns HMS-Horizon Meat Services, All-in Flex...

UK – Gi Group merges its Tack UK and TMI subsidiaries

Staffing firm Gi Group announced that it is bringing together its firms Tack UK and TMI UK to create the specialist learning and development organisation Tack TMI UK & Ireland.

According to Gi Group, bringing the two operations together aligns the UK with the rest of the global market where Tack TMI...

Russia – Majority of workers dissatisfied with their wages: HeadHunter

Nearly three quarters, or 74%, of workers in Russia said they are dissatisfied with their wages, according to a survey from Russian job board operator HeadHunter.

The share of dissatisfied workers was higher among freelancers, at 78%.

Meanwhile, among those who were satisfied with their salaries, professionals...

UK – Older workers less confident about their prospects, study finds

Professionals in the UK aged 55 to 64 were the least confident about their job prospects, with 42.9% feeling confident in the future of their career, according to a new study from job board CV-Library.

This figure was followed by 43.2% of 45 to 54-year-olds and 48.9% of 35 to 44-year-olds, feeling confident...

Ireland – Government spends more than €1.5 billion on agency staff (The Irish Times)

Ireland’s government spent more than €1.5 billion on temporary agency workers since 2014, The Irish Times reported. Roles filled include chefs, architects, cleaners, staff in diplomatic missions and nurses. However, the Health Service Executive, which reported €1.4 billion in agency workers expenditures,...

UK – Labour productivity grows slightly in the third quarter: ONS

Labour productivity for the third quarter ended September 2019, improved slightly by 0.1% when compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

The 0.1% rise, as measured by output per hour, follows four consecutive quarters of contraction.

Services...

UK – TV presenter wins employment tribunal against BBC over gender discrimination

TV Presenter Samira Ahmed has won an employment tribunal she brought against the BBC in a dispute over equal pay.

Ahmed was paid £440 per episode for Newswatch, which is shown on the BBC News Channel and BBC Breakfast. She argued that she should have been paid as much as TV presenter Jeremy Vine who...

Netherlands – ABU makes proposals to tackle rogue agencies in the temporary employment sector

The Dutch Federation of Private Employment Agencies, or ABU, has made a number of proposals to help boost the quality of agencies and reduce the number of rogue agencies in temporary employment sector in the Netherlands.

Jurriën Koops, director of the ABU, said the major problems facing the temporary...

France – HelloWork reports €51.6 million in orders, a year-over-year increase of 17%

France-based HelloWork, whose jobs websites include ParisJob and RegionsJob, announced Thursday that it received €51.6 million in orders in 2019, representing a 17% increase from 2018. HelloWork now has 325 employees.

The company said it averages more than 4 million unique visitors on its different...