An article in today’s Daily Mirror has raised the issue over the role of temporary staff in the NHS and within Government Departments. REC Healthcare has responded by highlighting the positive contribution that temporary and locum workers make and by underlining the benefits of flexible staffing arrangements.

The announcement by Dr Vincent Cable, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills on the Government’s plans for executive pay has been welcomed as a step in the right direction by the REC’s Association of Executive Recruiters.

This is the weekly snapshot of REC and IRP activities including events, launches, external meetings and policy developments with implications for the recruitment industry.

The REC took part in the latest meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, which focused on the role that immigration policy will play in economic growth this year. Speakers included Conservative MP Alok Sharma, Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt, Shadow Immigration Minister Chris Bryant MP, and experts from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and OECD.

The Ministry of Defence has just announced a further 4,200 redundancies in the Armed Forces. Recruiters can play a crucial role in helping those affected to find a new career path, according to members of the REC’s Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP).

Last week’s EU conference in Copenhagen provided the latest update on current labour market trends across Europe and on specific issue such as youth unemployment. The event was an opportunity to take forward the UK recruitment industry’s perspective and to build links with representatives from the European Commission and global businesses.

A delegation of members from the Nordic and Irish recruitment federations has today and yesterday been learning more about the UK recruitment industry and the current challenges it faces during a two day study visit to the REC.

This week’s ONS employment figures highlighted the increased emergence of flexible and self-employed working patterns. Although this may currently be driven largely through necessity, the shift towards different ways of working may be a lasting legacy of the economic downturn. Taking stock of what these trends mean for workers, employers and Government will be a core aim of the REC’s new Flexible Work Commission.

Every recruiter strives for success but what exactly does it take to be successful? This is one of the many questions which will be explored at a workshop especially for members of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) next week (Thursday January 26).

The number of people out of work in the three month period up until last November rose 118,000 to 2.68 million, the Office for National Statistics has revealed today.