As UK Firms Fail to Recruit Could Umbrella Companies Come to the Rescue?

You could be forgiven for assuming that, with unemployment surging, demand for new personnel is drying up – but you’ be wrong. As many as three quarters of UK employers desperately want new talent, but can’t find it, according to research from the human resource specialist, Curve Group.

In news that may benefit PAYE umbrella contractors, the study suggests that up to 75% of UK businesses are struggling to recruit the staff they’re looking for. While they’re willing to pay the going rate for these sought-after staff, in the current economic conditions they remain unwilling to go over the odds and offer additional financial enticements (only 10% of those polled said they were prepared to consider this option).

A sizeable majority of respondents (62%) cited stress-related illness as major cause of absenteeism in their companies over the last two years. Headcount freezes and perennial redundancy fears may well have contributed to this, according to Curve Group co-owner Lyndsey Simpson.

While the UK economy expanded by a decidedly underwhelming 0.5% during the third quarter of 2011 – a higher rise than many had expected – UK businesses are still facing exceptionally arduous times. There is every prospect that more permanent employees will find themselves walking the redundancy plank in the months ahead, posing a serous dilemma for firms jettisoning their personnel: how to complete necessary projects and go on surviving without the necessary ‘hands on deck’ to proceed?

Insolvency trade body R3 suggests that many forms are already on the back foot and drawing heavily on their overdraft facilities. Skilled contractors working through umbrella companies could well be the answer.