UK – Outsourcing firm Interserve agrees to a rescue deal to reduce £650 million debt pile (The Independent)

UK-based outsourcing firm Interserve has agreed a debt-for-equity swap with lenders in an effort to reduce its £650 million debt pile and avoid a collapse similar to last year’s collapse of UK-based construction giant Carillon, reports The Independent. Control of the company will be handed to lenders...

Japan – Altech Corp full year revenue edges up 8.3% while profits lift

Japanese technical staffing firm Altech Corp. (4641:JP) reported revenue for the full year ended 31 December 2018 of JPY 32.78 billion (USD 298.4 million), an increase of 8.3% when compared to the same period last year.

UK – Parity Group appoints new CEO, expects annual revenue growth for FY 2018

Parity Group, the London-based specialist technology staffing company, announced, in a trading update, that it has appointed Matthew Bayfield as Chief Executive Officer.

Alan Rommel, current CEO, will move into the role of Chief Operating Officer, a Board position.

Bayfield joined Parity’s senior management...

World – From automation to skills shortages: How eight trends will impact staffing industry this year

Many trends - from automation to the ongoing skills shortage and from the global economy to legislation are affecting staffing firms. Staffing Industry Analysts first outlined them in a report last year, but now takes a new look at how these trends will shape up this year in a free report released on...

France – Jobijoba acquires recruitment chatbot startup JAI

France-based recruitment solutions provider Jobijoba announced that it has acquired The Jobs Artificial Intelligence (JAI), a chatbot specialist solutions provider for recruiters.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

JAI was founded in January 2018 by CEO Valérie Touraine and Chief...

World – Korn Ferry: Companies hiring on basis of skills rather than open positions

A global survey from Korn Ferry found that 57% of talent acquisition professionals have been hired for a specific skill set even if there is not an existing role for the candidate. Furthermore, 77% say they are hiring for roles today that didn’t even exist a year ago.

“While technological advances...

Slovakia – Parliament rejects draft amendment to cap number of foreign workers employed via temp employment agencies (TASR)

The number of foreigners employed in Slovakia via temporary employment agencies will not be limited, as Parliament yesterday rejected a draft amendment to the Labour Code, reports the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR). The draft amendment was submitted by right-wing political party ‘We are...

UK – M65 Recruitment announces merger with Job Search

Blackburn-based recruitment agency M65 Recruitment has merged with recruitment specialist Job Search, based in Burnley, to create M65Jobsearch, an independent recruitment firm.

Financial details of the merger were not disclosed.

The new company will operate out of Blackburn Burnley.

Mark Wiggan, Founder...

Spain – Temp to permanent contract conversion reaches ten-year high in 2018, Randstad finds

The conversion of temporary contracts to permanent contracts in Spain saw a growth of 22.1% in 2018 when compared to 2017, the highest increase in the last ten years, according to Randstad Spain.

In 2018 there were 837,988 conversions, the highest since 2007 when there were more than 900,000 conversion....

UK – Most recruiters say there’s an ‘opportunity divide’ jobs market despite skills shortages

The majority, or 59%, of UK recruiters say there is an “opportunity divide” between affluent talent and less privileged talent, according to a survey of more than 2,000 global recruitment professionals by Bullhorn, a supplier of software to staffing firms.

According to Bullhorn, the “opportunity...