Europe – SIA volunteers donate funds and organise an employability workshop as part of first European Crain Cares Initiative

Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) organised its first ever European Crain Cares Initiative at the Bromley by Bow Centre (BBBC) in East London on June 7, donating funds and setting up an employability workshop with practical CV reviews, mock interviews and feedback sessions for unemployed jobseekers.

SIA...

Scotland – NHS spends £23 million on agency staff (Scotsman)

NHS expenditure on agency staff in Scotland has soared to £23 million in 2015-2016, reports the Scotsman. An increase of 45% when compared to the previous year. Despite the increase of agency staff use, the number of staff working in NHS Scotland has reached a record high.

Scottish Conservatives have...

UK – Businesses face candidate shortages ahead of EU Referendum

Permanent staff placements in the UK continued to rise in May but at their slowest rate in eight months amid uncertainty due to the EU Referendum, according to the latest Markit/REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) Report on Jobs.

The report shows that there were further reductions in staff...

UK – Staffing agencies under fire as Sports Direct founder is grilled by MP’s

Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has admitted that he had paid workers below minimum wage and has also criticised the use of zero-hours contracts during a Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, chaired by Hartlepool MP Iain Wright.

The company was at the centre of controversy last year following...

Netherlands – Government spent €1.1 billion on external consultants and temps in 2015

The Dutch government spent €1.1 billion last year in hiring external consultants, temporary staff and interim managers, according to Consultancy.uk.

Nearly 60% of the €1.1 billion in spending went to temporary staffing, while the rest went to technology specialists and consulting firms.

The 2015 spend...

Netherlands – Ministers set aside nearly €70 million to tackle over 50s unemployment rate (Dutch News)

Dutch ministers have set aside 68 million in order to boost employment opportunities for the unemployed who are over 50, reports dutchnews.nl. The money will go to training programmes to help over 50s find work. People aged 45 to 65 currently account for 240,000 of the 600,000 of the registered...

Denmark — New jobs posted online total 20,000 in May

There were 20,000 in new jobs in Denmark posted online in May, according to comments by Danish economist Steen Bocian that were released by job board operator Jobindex. The increase is small compared to April, but the level indicates continued growth in employment, according to Bocian. For the past year,...

Netherlands — DPA initiates shares buyback program

Dutch staffing firm DPA (DPA: AMS) announced last week the launch of a share buyback initiative which amounts to 9.99% of the currently issued share capital, or 4,997,067 shares. The purchase will take place at a price of €1.527 per share. A portion of the repurchased shares will be used to settle...

Global — Fewer jobs at high risk of automation (Economist)

New research found that only 9% of US jobs are at high risk of automation, in contrast to an earlier study that found 47% of US jobs could be eliminated by automation, the Economist reports in a June 4 article. “Some caveats are in order: employers could restructure jobs to disentangle tasks that are...

Spain — Temp agencies say summer hiring to rise 10% (elPeriódico)

Seasonal work through Spanish temporary agencies is expected to increase more than 10% between July and September, according to an article in Spanish newspaper elPeriódico. Randstad forecasts that it will increase hiring by 13% this summer to reach 480,000 contracts, according to the newspaper. Adecco...