UK – One in four organisations have never considered employing apprentices

Many organisations in the UK have never considered apprentices, despite evidence that they are highly valued, according to a report by The Adecco Group UK and Ireland.

The report, Closing the Skills Gap: Will Apprenticeships Deliver the Workforce of Tomorrow?, shows that 25% of organisations have never...

UK – John Lewis suffers £36 million profit hit after breaching minimum wage rules (Telegraph)

UK-based department store chain John Lewis has taken a £36 million hit to its profits to cover potential back payments to staff after admitting that it breached national minimum wage rules, reports the Telegraph. The problem occurred because of its practice of pay averaging, which ensures employees...

World – Growth in France and Italy lift Adecco Q1 Revenue, Adia digital brand launches

Adecco (ADEN: VX), the world’s largest staffing firm, today reported revenue for the first quarter ending 31 March 2017 of €5.7 billion, an increase of 7% organically compared with the same period last year.

UK – Hydrogen Group set to acquire the Argyll Scott Group

UK recruitment firm Hydrogen Group (HYDG: AIM) has agreed to acquire London-based recruitment firm Argyll Scott Limited for £3.3 million.

The acquisition will occur through the issue of 9,034,110 consideration shares representing approximately 27.4% of the enlarged share capital. Hydrogen will then acquire...

UK – Permanent placement growth at slowest rate in 7 months as demand for staff grows

Permanent placements in the UK grew at its slowest rate in seven months in April, while permanent and temporary candidate availability fell to its lowest rate in 16 months, according to data from the most recent Markit/REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) Report on Jobs.

The data also showed...

South Africa – Adcorp appoints new CFO and director

South African staffing firm Adcorp has announced that it will appoint Cheryl-Jane Kujenga as the Chief Financial Officer and as an executive director with effect from 1 July 2017.

Kujenga spent nine years as a partner at professional services firm Ernst & Young. At EY she has been involved in an advisory...

UK – “Society must do more to create fulfilling and decent jobs” – Staffing Quote of the Week

Ahead of a speech tonight, job tsar Matthew Taylor, who is leading an independent review of employment practices in the modern economy, has stated that bad work conditions and insecure contracts show that “society must do more to create fulfilling and decent jobs.

“Bad work is all too common,” Taylor’s...

Switzerland – Unemployment rate falls to 3.3% in April

Switzerland’s jobless rate fell to 3.3% in April from 3.5% in the same period last year, according to statistics from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The data also shows that 146,327 people were registered as unemployed in April compared to 149,540 last year.

The number of unemployed...

Belgium – Temporary work sector shows growth for third straight year

The temporary work sector in Belgium in 2016 showed an annual increase of 9.3%, its third consecutive year of growth, according to figures from the Belgian federation of staffing agencies.

Federgon states that the positive economic environment in 2016 meant that there were more jobs available and that...

Austria – Trenkwalder appoints new CEO

Trenkwalder, the Austrian staffing firm, announced that its supervisory board appointed Oktay Erciyaz as CEO as of 1 May 2017.

As part of hismanagement role, Erciyaz will focus on sales, the growth and business development of the Trenkwalder Group.

Erciyaz has experience in production and service process...