Switzerland – Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index rises 7%

Swiss companies advertised 7% more job ads in the first quarter of 2019 when compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index conducted by the Swiss Job Market Monitor from the University of Zurich.

The number of advertised positions for all occupational groups...

South Africa – AdvTech finalises acquisition of Monash South Africa

South African recruitment firm AdvTech which also operates in the education sector, announced that it has fulfilled all conditions and received approval from the Competition Tribunal to acquire Monash South Africa, a South African private tertiary education institution with students from more than 50...

UK – Councils spend millions of pounds on agency social workers as they struggle to recruit permanent staff, investigation reveals

An investigation by The Guardian found that 129 out of 152 local councils across England spent a total of £335 million in 2017/18 hiring agency social workers. This represented a slight fall from £360 million in 2016/17, which in turn had risen from £342 million in 2015/16.

The Guardian cited government...

UK – Private sector employment rate in Northern Ireland falls at quickest rate since 2013, business activity also drops amid Brexit uncertainty

Northern Ireland’s private sector employment level fell at its fastest rate in nearly six years, while business activity also decreased for the first time since July 2016, according to March data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland Purchasing Manager Index.

The Index suggested that Brexit uncertainty...

Spain – Employment rate for under 25’s reaches second-highest rate in a decade, Randstad finds

The employment rate for professionals under 25 years of age in Spain stood at 66.5% in 2018, the second-highest rate in the last 10 years, according to a study from Randstad Spain.

The 66.5% employment rate was the highest since 2008’s rate of 71%, this was then followed by five consecutive years of...

Ireland – Health Services to freeze recruitment for three months to manage costs (RTE Ireland)

Ireland’s Health Services (HSE) announced that it will introduce a three-month recruitment freeze in the health service in an effort to manage costs, reports RTE Ireland. In a letter to senior HSE directors, the Deputy Director General of the HSE Liam Woods said the decision is based upon the financial...

UK – Permanent staff appointments see fastest decline since 2016 as Brexit-related uncertainty intensifies

Permanent staff appointments by recruitment consultancies in the UK in March declined at the quickest rate since July 2016 amid uncertainty related to the UK’s decision to leave the EU, according to the latest Report on Jobs from IHS Markit/REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) and professional...

Finland – StaffPoint acquires Valtti Personnel Solutions

Finnish staffing and recruitment firm StaffPoint announced that it has acquired Valtti Personnel Solutions, an HR services firm based in Finland.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

Valtti operates mainly in the Pirkanmaa region in Finland, just north of Helsinki, provides personnel...

UK – MPs debate Loan Charge and Off-Payroll legislation, but water leak forces early closure of Parliament

MPs met yesterday in Parliament to debate and voice their concerns about Off-Payroll rules as well as the impact of the Loan Charge on their independent contractor constituents, however a conclusion to the debate was abandoned due to a water leak in Parliament.

The Loan Charge, first announced in 2016,...

UK – 78% of companies pay men more than women

Despite increasing awareness, the UK median gender pay gap decreased only marginally from 9.7% to 9.6% between 2017 and 2018.

Approximately 78% of companies paid men more while 14% had a pay gap that favoured women, while the rest reported no difference.

Last year saw the first mandatory gender pay gap...